Mindtricks
by Nice-one
Summary: BuffyAngel crossover! CHAPTER 13 IS UP! After fighting the final battle with Angel, Buffy goes to L.A with him (and she takes Xander and Faith with her) to deal with the Jasmine situation. BA mostly! PLZ review!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy the Vampire Slayer or any of the characters.  
  
Well, here is it. My very first real Buffy fic. I've written a couple of Buffy one-parters, but this is my very first Buffy-fic that's longer than just one chapter. I have to admit something though. I didn't come up with the plot on my own. In fact the idea came from one of my best friends Lindsay (a.k.a smile1) and we worked it out together. So I owe her a lot. She is one of the best authors on fanfiction and she's not just a great author, but also a great friend and I wouldn't even be writing fics if it wasn't for her! So, thanks Lin for everything. You always help me with my fics whenever I need it, you give me advice, but the most important thing is that you always give an honest opinion about my fics. You point out the good things and the bad things and even though it's not always fun to hear you (or anyone) say bad things about one of my fics, it does help me lot and I really think my writing has improved, partially because of you (and partially because I'm just soooo talented of course...haha, just kiddin')! And who's a better tutor than the master of fanfics herself? :-p  
  
This fic is kind of a Buffy/Angel crossover and you probably won't get it if you don't watch both of the shows (or used to watch both of the shows, cos Buffy is kinda over)  
  
This fic starts somewhere in season 7 (I don't exactly remember the name of the episode, but if I'm not mistaken it's the one before End of Days or maybe it is End of Days) and Angel comes to give Buffy the amulet. We all remember that, right? Anyway, this fic starts with Angel on his way to Buffy and Buffy is fighting Caleb in the vineyard. This fic is gonna take place in Sunnydale at first, but later I'm gonna move it to L.A and in L.A the story takes place when Cordelia is pregnant.  
  
Pairings: A lot of them actually. Not all in a romantic way though. Let's see.....well, Buffy/Angel of course. I could never write a Buffy-fic without some romance between those two. There's gonna be a little Spuffy action, but not necessarily in a romantic way. A little Angel/Cordy probably, a little Connor/Cordy maybe, but not in a romantic way. Eeeh.....Fred/Gunn.....Fred/Wesley.....You know, a little bit about their little love triangle. And that's pretty much it!  
  
*******  
  
Chapter 1  
  
Angel walked up to the vineyard. He took the amulet out of his pocket and stared at it, then he put it back into his pocket. He needed to get the amulet to Buffy. He was gonna see her again and to be honest he was a little nervous about it. He hadn't seen her in a pretty long time and he was curious about everything that was going on in her life nowadays. Did she have a new boyfriend? Not that he didn't want her to have a new boyfriend. He just wanted her to be happy and he knew that he could never be the one to make her happy. He knew that the relationship between the vampire slayer and a vampire could never work out and he had accepted that. It didn't mean that he stopped caring about her though. Maybe he even cared about her more than ever. Seeing her was never easy. He loved spending time with her, but he knew they eventually had to say goodbye again. He had reached the vineyard now and wanted to go inside when he heard a voice.  
  
"Angel"  
  
He turned around and saw Buffy standing there. The expression on her face surprised him. It was very confident and not Buffy-like. He smiled at her and walked up to her. She seemed to be very surprised and maybe even a little bit shocked. He was standing in front of her now and Buffy did a step back, like she didn't want him to be standing this close to her.  
  
"What are you doing here?" she said and it didn't exactly make him feel welcome.  
  
"You're not happy to see me?" he asked her. He tried to make it sound like he was kidding, but he was kinda curious about the answer, cos it really seemed as if she didn't want him here.  
  
She recovered quickly though and a smile appeared on her face which made her expression a little bit more Buffy-like.  
  
"Of course I'm happy to see you. Aren't I always? I'm just......surprised. What are you doing here?" This time she tried to make the 'what are you doing here' phrase sound less bitchy.  
  
Angel noticed she was standing a little bit far away from him and she seemed to be afraid to come any closer. Why was Buffy acting so weird? Of course she was surprised to see him, but Buffy had never been this......cold to him. He decided to ignore it. With everything that was going on in Sunnydale she was probably just a little stressed out and she had a lot on her mind.  
  
"Just wanted to see you. And I have something for you."  
  
"Really? For me?" she said. She seemed a little bit more interested now.  
  
Angel nodded. Buffy did a couple of steps forward and the confident expression on her face returned. She gave Angel a flirtatious look. She looked over his shoulder to the vineyard behind him and smiled. Angel looked at her, not quite sure what was going on with her.  
  
"Why don't we go for a walk?" she suggested and started to walk in the opposite direction of the vineyard and Angel had no choice but to follow her, still wondering about her weird behaviour.  
  
*******  
  
Not much later they were walking the dark, empty streets of Sunnydale together. In silence. Angel didn't know what to say to her, because he felt as if Buffy wasn't happy about his visit. She seemed distracted and somehow Angel couldn't place her body language. She seemed so confident, almost arrogant and that was something he had never seen before. Buffy was pretty confident most of the time, but she never showed it like this and he didn't think he had ever used the words Buffy and arrogance in the same sentence before.  
  
"Is everything okay?" he asked.  
  
She looked up at him and tried to give him a reassuring smile.  
  
"Yeah, sure. Why wouldn't it be?"  
  
"I don't know. You tell me"  
  
"What do you mean?" she asked with a questioned look on her face.  
  
Angel hesitated and looked at the girl walking next to him. Now he wasn't so sure anymore. Maybe he was just imagining things. Maybe this was just the way Buffy was, but did he idealize her in his mind. And the way she was looking at him right now wasn't that strange. Maybe it was just the things that were going on that made her a little different. He got that.  
  
"You just seem a little distracted" he eventually said.  
  
"Oh...well, you know me. Evil here, evil there, evil everywhere....I just can't seem to get it off my mind"  
  
The way she said it made Angel smile. That was the Buffy he knew.  
  
"Especially with the First Evil around. It's a real pain in the ass and I have no idea how to get rid of it" she continued.  
  
Angel stopped walking and stood still in the middle of the street. Buffy stopped walking too and looked at him, knowing he had something important to say.  
  
"I think I might have something for you that could solve that problem"  
  
Buffy tried to hide the huge grin that started to form on her face. Angel reached into his pocket and took out the amulet. He hesitated for a moment and looked at it.  
  
"I'm not exactly sure what it does...I think it gives protection to the right person, but..It needs to be worn by a champion"  
  
"Like me?" she cautiously suggested.  
  
"No. It could do more harm than good. I'm talking about a real champion here. Someone who's not afraid to fail and who knows how to handle an apocalypse"  
  
"And we're pretending here that I am not the uncrowned queen of apocalypses?"  
  
"What I mean is that....."  
  
"I know what you mean. You're talking about yourself"  
  
Angel didn't say anything to that. That was exactly what he meant.  
  
"You want to fight the final battle with me" she stated.  
  
"Together we can...." he started.  
  
"Together we can do a whole lot of things, but fighting the final battle is not one of them" she interrupted him and she realized it came out a little bit more bitchy than she intended to.  
  
Angel looked at her, not understanding why she reacted like this. Buffy realized she was handling this all wrong and tried to save herself.  
  
"What I mean is, is that you and me fighting that battle is not gonna guarantee a victory. And if we go down......then the world is....doomed. I need you to stay behind and finish it if I......."  
  
"Together we're so much stronger"  
  
"That much power can work against us in a battle like that. And besides, with that amulet....."  
  
"Which you're not gonna wear" Angel told her.  
  
"There are other champions besides you and me" she told him, getting a little irritated now.  
  
"Maybe you're right. It could work against us."  
  
"And besides....even if we combine our powers we're not nearly as strong as them. If we win this battle it won't be because we're stronger, but because we're smarter"  
  
Angel thought about her words. She was probably right. Everything she said made sense, but there was a little voice in his head that told him leaving would be wrong. That said that he should fight the final battle with her, but he knew there was no point in trying to convince Buffy that he shouldn't leave. She had made up her mind and it wasn't easy to make her change it. And she was probably right anyway. He needed to form a second front in L.A in case things went wrong. He wanted to take her hand and place the amulet in it, but something in Buffy's expression changed when she saw his hand. Like she started to panic. She wanted to do a few steps backward, but it was too late and Angel grabbed her hand........or didn't, cos he couldn't touch her. His hand went right through her. He looked up at her, a little confused. Then Buffy's panicked expression dissapeared and was replaced by a huge grin and when he looked into her eyes he saw nothing but pure evil.  
  
"You're not her" he said, stating the obvious.  
  
"No, I'm not. I'm not her at all"  
  
Then right before Angel's eyes Buffy changed. It was like she morphed into something else and in in less than 5 seconds Buffy had dissapeared and Drusilla was standing in front of him. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. So this was it. This was the First Evil. He had talked to it. It had fooled him just like it had fooled all the others. Drusilla looked at Angel and brought her hand to her mouth, she stroked her own cheek with her perfect manicured red nails and smiled at him. Then she pointed to the ground.  
  
"From beneath you it devours" she said.  
  
And then without a warning, it dissapeared, leaving Angel all alone in the empty streets. He looked at the spot where The First had dissapeared, then he looked at the amulet he was still holding. For the first time he realized now what they were dealing with. This thing could mess with your head. It could make you do things you never even thought were possible. This was bad....This was really bad. He had to find Buffy. The real Buffy this time.  
  
A/N: This fic is not just about beating the First. It goes on after that. I'm just changing a couple of things and I want to make it different from the show. And the upcoming chapters will probably be a little longer. That is if you want me to continue. So, please review and let me know what you think and if you want me to continue!  
  
Steffanie (a.k.a Nice-one) 


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Angel or any of the characters.  
  
Well, here it is: chapter 2! Enjoy!  
  
Pairings: (not all in a romantic way) Buffy/Angel, Spuffy, Angel/Cordy (but not all that much), Cordy/Connor, Fred/Gunn, Wesley/Fred...........and that's pretty much it. But it's mostly a B/A fic.  
  
A Buffy/Angel crossover!  
  
A little warning before you start to read: this chapter is really bad! And I'm really not happy with it........Hopefully I'll do a better job on the next chapters!  
  
Spoilers: Well...if you haven't seen the last couple of episodes of season 7.....  
  
And I wanna thank all of you for the great reviews! I loved them!  
  
Smile1: Thank you for giving me your honest opinion...means a lot to me! (  
  
Crissy: Don't worry....There will be very little C/A in this fic....and about the smoochies.....I could never write a Buffy/Angel fic without some smoochies!  
  
Sara: Well, there will be very little C/A.....but there will be a little Spuffy in the upcoming 2 chapters! Sorry! But I promise that it will be B/A after those 2 chapters or something!  


* * *

Chapter 2  
  
After his little conversation with the First, Angel had gone back to the vineyard to see if the real Buffy was there, but when he got there, the place had been deserted. He decided to go to Buffy's house, figuring she must have gone there. Angel hesitated a little, before ringing the doorbell. Even though it had been a while since he had been here, everything still looked the same and he wanted to keep it that way, but he knew that by ringing the doorbell, something definitely was going to change, because he knew that dealing with everything Buffy had dealt with had changed her and everyone around her. It took a while before the door opened, but then Dawn appeared in the doorway. She looked up at him and he thought she didn't recognize him, but after a few seconds she started to smile and jumped around his neck. Angel smiled to himself as he hugged Dawn back.  
  
"Angel! What are you doing here?" Dawn asked, while she was hugging Angel so tight that he thought he was almost going to choke, even though he knew it wasn't possible, because he was a vampire and all.  
  
"I came to help. Is your sister around?"  
  
Dawn eventually let go of Angel and seemed a little embarrassed now for hugging Angel like that.  
  
"Eh....yeah, sure. She just came back....Some priest beat her up pretty bad and everything is bruised and not pretty, but the priest is dead so..yah! Come in."  
  
Dawn stepped aside to let Angel in. Angel wanted to step inside when it seemed Dawn suddenly changed her mind, because she stepped back in front of Angel, so he couldn't enter the house.  
  
"Wait! You're not all evil again, are you? I know I probably should have checked that before I hugged you the way I did, cos my neck was only inches away from your mouth when I hugged you, but I'm a teenager and I'm allowed to be irresponsible and reckless"  
  
Angel smiled at Dawn. She was so much like her sister. This was something Buffy could have said when she was still a teenager and that was what he loved about both of the Summer sisters: their rambling.  
  
"I'm not evil again" he said with a smile on his face, doubting that would do the trick. He knew Dawn well enough to know that this probably wouldn't convince her.  
  
"Oh, okay"  
  
And Dawn stepped aside again. Angel was surprised. That went pretty easy. He expected her to be a little bit more suspicious.  
  
"Just like that? What if I am evil?"  
  
"You just said that you weren't"  
  
"Don't you think I would have said that too if I had been evil?"  
  
"Well, yeah, but because of my irresponsible and reckless teenage-behavior, I already invited you in and if you are evil and you really wanna go in then you would just throw we aside and I kinda like my body when it's not bruised, so....I decided letting you in would be the best option here........Plus, when you're inside and it turns out you're evil after all there will be a lot of volunteers in there to stake you, so that's safer for me too."  
  
"Oh, well in that case....." Angel said and he stepped inside.  
  
Dawn closed the door behind him and walked into the livingroom. Angel followed her. Everything really was still the same and even though most of the furniture had been replaced, it had been replaced by almost similar furniture and it was still standing at the same place. He looked into the livingroom and was surprised to see it was crowded. He saw Willow sitting in a chair and a girl with long, dark hair was resting her head on her shoulder. Xander was sitting in another chair and was having a heated discussion with a woman Angel had only met once. He believed her name was Anya, but he wasn't completely sure. Angel noticed the eye-patch Xander was wearing and wondered what was going on? Was he just going through some kind of pirate-phase or was there really something wrong? Buffy was sitting on the couch and even though Dawn had told him about the fight with the priest he was still shocked to see her like this, because he hadn't realized it had been that serious and he felt kind of guilty, because he knew he could have been there to help Buffy in the vineyard if he hadn't let the First fool him. Faith was taking care of Buffy's wounds with the first aid kit. Spike was.....wait, Spike?! Yep, that really was Spike sitting next to Buffy on the couch while some other girl Angel didn't know was taking care of his injuries. Good old Giles was trying to calm the pretty large group of young girls down. Angel didn't know any of them. Another kind of nerdy guy was sitting separate from the group, observing the scene in front of him. The last thing Angel noticed was a black,bald guy leaning against the desk, looking at Buffy with a concerned look on his face. All the young girls were talking and it wasn't easy for Dawn to get everyone's attention. She cleared her throat a couple of times, but of course that didn't have any effect.  
  
"Guys.....?" she tried.  
  
Still no one looked up.  
  
"Guys?" she said, a little louder this time.  
  
Still nobody seemed to hear her. Dawn looked up at Angel. Angel shrugged.  
  
"Guys?!" she now practically yelled.  
  
Suddenly one of the girls who was sitting on the floor looked up and noticed them. She smiled at Dawn and got the attention of the girl next to her. The other girl looked up too and gave Angel a weird look. One by one the girls who were sitting on the floor stopped talking and looked up at the stranger standing behind Dawn. Giles realized the girls had finally stopped talking and thought they were finally listening to him, but then he noticed Angel too. Then the bald guy, leaning against the desk saw Angel and not much later Xander followed, which got Anya's attention and not much later everyone had noticed Angel, except for Buffy and Spike who were still in the middle of a conversation.  
  
"I never said that!" Buffy said.  
  
"You bloody well did!" Spike answered.  
  
"Well I don't remember it!"  
  
"You don't have to remember it. I remember it, so that means...."  
  
Spike stopped in the middle of his sentence when he realized it had gotten really quiet in the room. He looked around to see what caused the silence and then he noticed Angel.  
  
"Well, well, well......" Spike started.  
  
Buffy looked up now and saw Angel standing there.  
  
"Angel" she said.  
  
Angel seemed to be pretty uncomfortable with the attention everybody was paying to him. He slowly raised his hand and looked at everybody.  
  
"Hi........." he said.  
  
"Is THAT Angel?" One of the girls suddenly said.  
  
"He's not evil again is he?" Another girl asked.  
  
"Well, I don't....." Dawn started.  
  
"I'm not evil again" Angel interrupted Dawn.  
  
"Don't you think you would have said that too if you had been evil?" Dawn now said.  
  
Angel turned to Dawn.  
  
"That's not fair" he said, talking about the fact he had used an almost similar sentence only minutes ago.  
  
Dawn just shrugged. Buffy got up from the couch.  
  
"What are you doing here?"  
  
"I came to help.....and I have something for you"  
  
"Oh" Buffy said, obviously a little uncomfortable with the situation  
  
Everyone in the room looked at Buffy, then they moved their gaze to Angel and then back to Buffy. Buffy didn't think it had ever been this quiet since the Potentials had arrived and she realized the longer the silence would continue, the harder it would be to start a normal conversation with Angel, because it would only make them more and more uncomfortable. She stared at Angel.  
  
"So....uh.......Let's go talk"  
  
She didn't wait for Angel's reaction, but just walked up to him. She turned around to face the group of girls.  
  
"I'll be right back"  
  
The group didn't react. They just kept looking at the dark stranger standing in the livingroom. Buffy grabbed Angel's arm and pulled him with her into the kitchen.  
  
Spike watched the two. He wanted to hear what Angel had to say.......and he wanted to keep an eye on him, because he didn't trust Angel at all. Especially not around Buffy. Dawn sat down on the couch next to Spike, where Buffy had been sitting. She looked at Spike, but he didn't notice. He kept staring at the kitchen. He wanted to get up and join Buffy and Angel, but the second he got up Faith pushed him down again.  
  
"Down boy....Let them talk"  
  
Spike looked at Faith.  
  
"Why do you care about those two?"  
  
"I don't" she answered.  
  
"Alright then....." and Spike tried to get up again, but Faith pushed him down again.  
  
Spike looked up at Faith again, obviously getting a little tired of this. He wasn't going to give in. He wasn't going to let Faith stop him. He noticed the warning look on her face....He cleared his throat.  
  
"So....uh.....I'm just gonna use the bathroom"  
  
Faith hesitated, then she stepped aside.  
  
"Be my guest"  
  
Spike got up, his eyes still focused on Faith. He started to walk in the direction of the kitchen.  
  
"Eh....Spike, the bathroom is the other way" Dawn said.  
  
Spike didn't say anything. He stopped walking, turned around and walked in the other direction. He knew he could also get to the kitchen like this.  
  
"He's still going to kitchen, you know" Dawn said when Spike had left the room.  
  
"I know" Faith said.  
  
Faith and Dawn looked at each other, then Faith sat down on the couch, next to Dawn. It remained quiet in the livingroom.  
  
Buffy leaned against the wall in the kitchen, but she quickly changed her mind when she remembered how bruised her arm was and she felt the pain. She stood up straight. Angel noticed.  
  
"Are you okay?"  
  
"Yeah....or no....but I will be"  
  
Angel nodded. He walked up to her and was standing right in front of her now.  
  
"So....the house is much more crowded than I remember. You found out your true calling was your own orphanage?"  
  
"It really does look that way, doesn't it? Summers orphanage.....It does have a certain ring to it....Maybe an idea for the future, but no.....They're all Potentials. Future Slayers"  
  
"Must be a lot of fun, this many girls in a house together"  
  
"Oh, you have no idea. The word 'catfight' needs a completely new definition when you see them lining up in front of the bathroom in the morning"  
  
Angel smiled. He realized how much Buffy had changed over the years. She went from an innocent schoolgirl to a responsible young woman who didn't fear anything anymore.  
  
"I ran into that big bad evil of yours" He suddenly changed the topic, not knowing any other way to bring it up.  
  
"The First?" Buffy asked suprised and a little worried.  
  
"Yeah. Introduced itself as Buffy Summers. I bought it for a couple of minutes, but it really needs to work on it's acting skills......and on the whole 'I can't be touched'-thing"  
  
"But you're okay, right?"  
  
"Yeah....but....It knows about this now"  
  
Angel took the amulet out of his pocket and showed it to Buffy. She took it from him and looked at it.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"I'm not sure....It's very powerful, but dangerous. It's supposed to give strength when it's worn by the right person...By a champion"  
  
"Well it's gonna be a pain to find an outfit to match this" Buffy said, only half joking.  
  
"It's not for you. It's for someone stronger than human....someone with a soul"  
  
"I hear you....The only thing that's missing is your name engraved in it"  
  
"I didn't say that"  
  
"No, you only dropped subtle hints....that really weren't that subtle"  
  
"I'm just telling you the facts"  
  
"I know"  
  
She looked at the amulet one more time, then she carefully put it in her pocket. Angel looked at Buffy.  
  
"I thought we had the advantage of The First not knowing about the amulet, but...."  
  
"Have you told the First what the amulet does?" Buffy asked.  
  
"Sorta....so it's probably gonna come for the amulet"  
  
"Yeah......probably....but not tonight"  
  
"Why not tonight?"  
  
"I killed his.....well....I kinda killed his....sidekick, so The First probably needs time to recover from that.....and I stole his cool axe earlier, so....."  
  
"He won't come tonight" Angel finished her sentence.  
  
"No, but we have to be ready for when he does come" Buffy said.  
  
"Or we're gonna have to finish this all before he even gets the chance to get the amulet"  
  
"So I guess that means you have a plan that won't get us all killed?"  
  
"Well.....no....but...."  
  
"We need time" Buffy said.  
  
Angel nodded. He understood what she meant. He had to admit that things were a lot more complicated than he first thought. This wasn't going to be easy. This wasn't going to be easy at all.  
  
"So.....are you in this with us?" Buffy asked Angel.  
  
"I wouldn't wanna miss it for a thing" Angel said with a little smile on his face.  
  
"You're a fool" Buffy joked.  
  
"Yep, born that way" Angel said.  
  
He took Buffy's hand. She looked at it.  
  
"I'm glad you came" Buffy softly said.  
  
"Yeah.....me too"  
  
They stood like that for only a minute, then Buffy took her hand back.  
  
"We should probably let the others know about this"  
  
Angel nodded and followed Buffy back into the livingroom. It was still incredibly quiet in the room and it kinda started to freak Buffy out, because this was nothing like them. Everybody looked up at them when they came in. Buffy cleared her throat and wanted to start talking, but then Spike came in from the other side. Buffy looked at him with a suspicious look on her face.  
  
"Bathroom" Spike explained.  
  
He walked up to the couch and gave Dawn a look.  
  
"Okay okay already moving" Dawn said.  
  
She got up, looked around the room and eventually decided to sit down on the floor with the Potentials. Spike sat down on the couch and turned to Buffy.  
  
"Ready when you are" he said.  
  
Buffy ignored him and turned to the group.  
  
"As you all know Spike and I have finally been able to strike back after everything the First has done to us. We killed Caleb. We killed him, but it almost got us killed. I realize now that we're not ready yet. We can't fight the First now. We're not nearly strong enough to even be a match for him. I want you all to realize that. However, tonight we've gotten some help. This is Angel and he's gonna fight this fight with us"  
  
"So he's not evil again?" Anya asked.  
  
"No....he's not evil" Buffy said.  
  
"And we're absolutely sure about that?" Xander asked.  
  
"He's not evil, Xander"  
  
"How do you know?" Xander continued.  
  
Buffy wanted to answer, but Angel said something before Buffy could even open her mouth.  
  
"It's nice to know someone has such faith in me"  
  
"I'm just saying....." Xander started.  
  
"You know, I know you used to hate me, but I thought you would be over that by now"  
  
"I never hated you!....I just.....didn't like you"  
  
"And the difference between those two would be?" Buffy asked.  
  
"Hate is such a strong word. People really underestimate the power of a strong word......Angel is.....someone who's not exactly on top of my favorite people list"  
  
"The feeling is mutual" Angel said.  
  
"Then who is?....On top of your favorite people list?.....Not that I really care" Anya asked, giving Xander a look.  
  
"Oh well....there are a lot of people in the running, but I haven't decided yet"  
  
"So you're saying it's not me?" Willow asked, not knowing if she was supposed to be offended by that, because she didn't want to sound like a child.  
  
"Well.....you know....you are in the running"  
  
Xander saw that his answer didn't exactly satisfy Willow, because she gave him an angry look.  
  
"But you are a couple of points ahead of the rest" Xander said.  
  
"Hey!" Anya said and she really was offended.  
  
Xander sighed and turned back to Anya.  
  
"You're not that far behind"  
  
"So, how do we win points?" Willow asked.  
  
Xander hesitated and looked at Buffy for help, but she looked away not planning on helping Xander out with this one.  
  
"You know....you...." Xander started.  
  
"Sex?" Anya asked.  
  
"No...not sex!............or......well, yeah.....sex could get you some points"  
  
Anya looked around with a satisfied look on her face.  
  
"Well, in that case....I don't even have a chance....." Willow said.  
  
"Okay, could somebody help me out here?" Xander asked the rest of the group  
  
"I suggest we move on from Xander's favorite people list to Angel and make him feel welcome here" Buffy said as she smiled at Angel who was standing next to him.  
  
Spike made a disapproving sound, but everybody ignored him and Faith hit him on the arm.  
  
"Welcome to the party" she said and smiled at Angel.  
  
"Yeah....welcome back" Willow said.  
  
"Thanks" Angel said.  
  
Then the group of girls started to whisper to each other and Buffy let a sigh of relieve. Soon the whispering would become talking and then things would go back to normal. Angel turned around and faced Buffy.  
  
"Aren't you gonna tell them about the amulet?" he asked her.  
  
"Not yet....I don't want to freak them out just yet....We need to come up with a plan.....and fast"  
  
Angel nodded and they turned back to the group. Angel looked at Spike who was looking back at him. Buffy noticed and sighed.....This was gonna get interesting....  
  
"Come on...Let me introduce you to everybody" she said.  
  
Angel nodded. His eyes left Spike, but Spike's eyes didn't leave Angel.

* * *

A/N: Okay, I know this chapter kinda sucked, but it was very hard for me to write all the characters into this and let them all say something......I mean, I just realized Giles didn't say anything.....and Kennedy didn't say anything (that would be a first) and Andrew didn't even say something stupid...so this chapter really sucked. Anyway, on the show Angel kinda helped Buffy to kill Caleb, so I hope you understand that Spike helped Buffy out in this fic, since Angel wasn't there....that would kinda explain why Spike was hurt.......So, I'm gonna try to do a better job on the next chapter...maybe I won't write all of the characters in every part....Well, we'll see....Please review and let me know what you think!  
  
Steffanie (a.k.a. Nice-one) 


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: The usual....I don't own Buffy the Vampire Slayer or any of the characters.  
  
Pairings: Mainly Spuffy in this chapter, but it will eventually be B/A, because they're the best couple ever! Other pairings will be C/A (only a little and probably not in a romantic way) Cordy/Connor (not in a romantic way....at least not from Cordy's side, cos those two together is just......Ew!) Maybe Fred/Gunn/Wesley ------ About their lovely little love triangle

Thank you for all the great reviews! They really make my day!

N170017:Well, gotta say: I really loved the fight with oil-thing...I don't think it'll be appropriate in this story, but I'll definitely keep it in mind.....should make a great one-parter, right? :-p

Tariq:Loved your idea about Connor...Really! And I would have used it, but I already have so many characters in this fic....bringing Connor in just might be too much...And the dark and improved Wesley?....I'm definitely gonna consider it!

Smile1:Thank you for your kind words! Your reviews are very important to me....Just want you to know that!

This is a Buffy/Angel crossover!

Here's chapter 3! Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 3

The next morning Buffy entered the kitchen and saw all of the girls making themself breakfast. Buffy smiled at the sight. Luckily she had missed the bathroom ritual this morning, which meant she would have the entire bathroom for herself for as long as she wanted. She was already looking forward to a long, hot shower. She knew it would help her to heal faster after last night's fight and maybe it would help her to relax a little, because she hadn't been able to sleep all night. The First had surprised her with a visit and it's words had kept her awake all night and she had wandered through the house the entire night. She had come to a realization though and she was going to tell the others about it after her shower. She was about to turn around when she saw Spike standing in the kitchen too. She was surprised she hadn't noticed him before, but then she realized it wasn't that weird, because he was standing on the other side of the kitchen en she had been too busy looking at the girls to even notice anything else. Spike had noticed her though. The kitchen was just dark enough for him on days like this one when it was raining and the sun wasn't shining. He stared at Buffy. She had spent the night in the basement with him, because her own bedroom was taken by the many girls. He hadn't been able to enjoy her company for too long though, because when he had woken up in the middle of the night she had been gone. Now she was standing in the doorway, looking at him. Her hair was still messy and she looked exhausted. Spike thought he saw a smile forming on her lips and he tried to smile back. Then he saw Angel approaching Buffy from behind and his smile dissapeared.  
  
"You feel like sharing with me what's up with you and Spike?" Angel asked Buffy.  
  
Buffy quickly turned around, because she hadn't heard Angel.  
  
"Angel! You scared me!"  
  
"Sorry" he apologized.  
  
"How did you sleep?" she asked, partly trying to avoid his question and partly kinda curious to hear his answer.  
  
"I didn't."  
  
"Oh"  
  
"You?"  
  
"The same"  
  
Angel nodded slowly.  
  
"So, I should...." Buffy started, trying to say she was going to take a shower.  
  
"Is he your boyfriend?" Angel interrupted her before she had the chance to finish her sentence.  
  
"Excuse me?" Buffy asked.  
  
"Spike"  
  
"I don't see how that's any of your business"  
  
"It isn't.....I'm just curious"  
  
Buffy sighed and looked at Angel.  
  
"He's not my boyfriend. Not really"  
  
"And somehow that answer doesn't make me feel better"  
  
"Spike is like you now....Well, not like you....obviously....but he has a soul and........he's changed" Buffy stuttered.  
  
"Soul?"  
  
"Yeah...and I know it sounds weird, but this Spike is really not the Spike you and I used to know. He really changed."  
  
"He has a soul now?"  
  
"Uhuh" Buffy confirmed once again.  
  
"Oh that's great" Angel said, obviously not meaning it.  
  
"Is that jealousy talking or just....you, not wanting to be happy for him, because you hate him so much?" Buffy asked Angel.  
  
Angel looked over at Spike who was looking at the two of them.  
  
"A little bit of both" Angel confessed.  
  
"I figured. Look, I don't know what kind of issues you and Spike have, but my suggestion is you two work it out and get over it.....And now I'm gonna take a shower"  
  
Before Angel could say something Buffy dissapeared upstairs and locked herself in the bathroom. Some privacy at last....  
  
Barely 30 minutes later they were all in the basement, because Buffy had something to tell them. All of the girls were talking to each other and Buffy already knew it was going to be hard to get them to stop talking in a few minutes. Spike got up when Buffy walked down the stairs. He walked up to her and stopped her right before she was downstairs.  
  
"What's wrong?" Buffy asked when she saw Spike's serious expression.  
  
"I want to wear it" he told Buffy.  
  
"Wear what?" Buffy asked, not sure what he was talking about.  
  
"The amulet"  
  
Buffy looked at Spike in surprise. How did he know about the amulet? She knew vampires had good hearing, but she didn't think he could have heard her all the way from the livingroom. Then she remembered Spike coming in from the other side when she and Angel were done talking last night. He had gone to the 'bathroom'. Yeah, right.  
  
"Have you been eavesdropping?! You said you were in the bathroom!"  
  
"Bathroom...hallway....Not much of a difference nowadays. Point is that I'm the one who's supposed to wear it. Not you, not Angel.....Me"  
  
"Why would you think that?"  
  
"Could you just stop with the questions? You know you'll never let Angel wear it anyway....He's too special to you....You probably already had me in mind. You were just waiting for the right moment to ask me"  
  
"I wasn't. I really wasn't....Look, Spike...I could never ask you to...." Buffy started, a little confused and not sure what to do now.  
  
"You don't have to. I'm offering. Just give it to me"  
  
Buffy hesitated. She knew that Spike was kinda right. She didn't want Angel to wear it, but not for the reason he pointed out. Sure, Angel was special to her and she didn't want anything to happen to him, but she didn't want Spike to get hurt either. The reason she didn't want Angel to wear it was simple. Angel had a son. Angel had people who cared about him. Friends. Spike didn't have that...He didn't have real friends or anything like that. Spike didn't have anybody. Just her. That's why he could be the right person to wear it. There was only one problem.  
  
"I can't...." Buffy whispered to Spike.  
  
"Don't be so bloody stubborn. I want to do this"  
  
"But I don't want you to do it"  
  
She looked up at him. For a few seconds they stared at each other, then Spike walked away. He sat down on the bed and looked at Buffy who was still standing on the stairs. Eventually Buffy got herself together and walked down the stairs. Spike looked at Faith and Buffy who were apparantly in the middle of an interesting conversation. Angel was smiling and so was Faith. Then Faith said something to Angel and walked up to Spike. She sat down beside him on the bed, her back against the wall.  
  
"You have a smoke?" Faith asked him.  
  
Spike handed Faith a cigarette and his lighter. Then Spike lit his own cigarette and together they smoked in silence for a little while. Spike looked at Faith and saw she was staring at Angel.  
  
"When did you become Angel's lapdog?" Spike asked.  
  
"You really wanna bring that up? As fellow-lapdog?"  
  
Faith looked at Buffy who was in the middle of a pretty serious conversation with Willow.  
  
"I'm not her lapdog!" Spike reacted, a little offended.  
  
"Only in the literal sense of the word" Faith said with a smile on her face while she took a drag from her cigarette.  
  
Spike smirked and took another drag from his cigarette.  
  
"So, what do you think this meeting is all about?" Faith asked Spike.  
  
Spike shrugged.  
  
"Didn't she tell you?"  
  
"Does she ever tell me anything?"  
  
"I wouldn't know." Faith said and another smile appeared on her face. Spike noticed.  
  
"You know, it seems to me that you're actually enjoying all of this"  
  
"You mean the fact that we're very likely all gonna get killed pretty soon? No, sorry that's not my kind of entertainment"  
  
"No, your kind of entertainment would be being the one who kills, right?" Spike said.  
  
"Well yeah....if putting a stake through your heart is called killing then that's definitely my kind of entertainment"  
  
Before Spike could say anything to that Buffy stepped forward and cleared her throat. To her surprise it immediately became quiet. As if they all knew this speech was gonna be different from all the others. She cleared her throat before starting.  
  
"Like most of you, I couldn't sleep last night. There was something that kept me awake. The First. The difference between this night and all the other nights would be that this time he didn't only keep me awake in my mind. He was here. He talked to me and for the first time what he said made sense. Tonight all of this is gonna be over. Tonight we're gonna open the seal. We're gonna fight the First"  
  
Buffy stopped talking, expecting people to react to her announcement. It remained quiet. Buffy looked around the room. Everyone seemed afraid to speak. Suddenly one of the Potentials, Rona, said something.  
  
"That's crazy" was the only thing she said.  
  
Then Giles opened his mouth.  
  
"Well yeah, Buffy...I don't....I don't think....."  
  
"You don't have to think. I've done the thinking for all of us" Buffy interrupted him.  
  
"Well, I'd like to do my own thinking, thank you. With my own brains, cos it seems to me like everyone here is afraid to tell you that your brains kinda stopped making sense" Anya said.  
  
"She's right, Buff. This doesn't make sense. You wanna open the seal? You wanna fight the First? That is your plan? Get us all killed? I think I'm not alone when I say: this is not the masterplan we hoped for" Xander told Buffy.  
  
"Would you just hear her out?" Willow suddenly said.  
  
It became quiet again and Buffy smiled at Willow.  
  
"I have a plan. It's probably an insane plan....And it could get us all killed.....but it might work" Buffy announced.  
  
This got everyone's attention. Buffy took a deep breath before continueing her speech. She could only hope that this was the masterplan they had all hoped for.  
  
Buffy was sitting on the frontporch, thinking. She saw the sun going down and checked her watch. Only a few minutes left. She looked up when she heard the door opening behind her. It was Spike. He did a tiny step forward so he could close the door behind him, but was still standing in the dark.  
  
"Hey" Buffy softly said.  
  
"Hey" Spike said.  
  
Buffy turned back and realized the sun was almost down now.  
  
"Are you ready for the big fight?" Spike asked.  
  
"Don't know....How do you know if you're ready for something like this?"  
  
"You don't. You just say that you are to please the person who asked if you were ready"  
  
"In that case I'm ready. Ready to kick some serious ubervamp butt" she tried to joke.   
  
Spike smiled to himself.  
  
"You know...that crazy plan of you just might work" he told her.  
  
"Let's hope so....it's our only chance"  
  
"Are you kidding me?! Using a spell to give all the girls Slayer strength? Gotta be the plan of the century.....literally. He'll never see it coming"  
  
Buffy didn't respond to that. The sun had gone down now and she sighed. They should go. She got up and turned around. She walked up to Spike, wanting him to step aside so she could go inside. Of course he didn't step aside.  
  
"You're scared" he stated.  
  
"And you aren't?"  
  
"Not like you, no."  
  
"The world could come to an end tonight, Spike. Best case scenario I'm gonna loose people I care about. People are gonna get killed. I might get killed. How can I not be scared?"  
  
Spike didn't answer her immediately. They both knew what Buffy meant. They both knew Spike was the right person to wear the amulet, but Buffy didn't wanna give it to him, because she didn't want to loose him. She didn't want him to take that huge risk.  
  
"You're a hero. You've saved the world a thousand times before. Tell me you weren't scared back then"  
  
"Not like this. I feel that whatever is gonna happen tonight, I can't win. The world ends, I loose. And if the world doesn't end, people are still gonna die in this battle. Either way I loose"  
  
"That's where you're wrong, luv. In order to save the world, sacrifices have to be made. You've learned that the hard way the past couple of years, haven't you?"  
  
"Yes. And it made me realize that it's not fair. How can I feel like a hero when every time I save the world I feel like crap? The only person who has to make sacrifices is me"  
  
"That's why you're the Slayer"  
  
"Well, that's not making me feel any better! Now step aside. We have to go"  
  
Spike hesitated, then he stepped aside. Buffy opened the door and without even looking at him she stepped inside.  
  
"Buffy...." Spike said.  
  
Buffy stopped and turned around.  
  
"No matter what sacrifices you have to make.....No matter how many times you have to die....No matter how many people you have to give up....Remember that it's all worth it in the end. No one is ever really gone. No one ever really dies. No one ever really leaves you.......I'll never really leave you" he spoke.  
  
Buffy stared at the floor, her hand still on the doorhandle. For a couple of seconds, she didn't know what to say. Then she reached into her pocket and took out the amulet. She stared at it.  
  
"Is that a promise?" she softly asked him.  
  
"Yes"  
  
"And you're not gonna break it?"  
  
"Not likely"  
  
Buffy hesitated for one more second, then she held out the amulet. Spike took it from her. They stood in silence for a little while.  
  
"I'm sorry" she eventually said, feeling really guilty about letting Spike take such a huge risk.  
  
"No need to be, luv. I want to do this"  
  
"I won't forget it" she said.  
  
Then she walked into the livingroom, leaving Spike in the doorway holding the amulet in his hand. He stared at it. Love makes you do the wacky. He was convinced of that now.

* * *

A/N. Okay, so I know this story has been more Spuffy than B/A so far, but I promise that's all gonna change later on. I didn't wanna forget about the Buffy/Spike relationship like it never meant anything, so that's why there's been more Spuffy action than B/A action so far. There might not be a whole lot of romantic scenes between Buffy and Angel, but I will definitely show the chemistry between them and there will be smoochies.....eventually. I'm just asking you to be patient!  
  
Anyway, let me know what you think of this chapter. It wasn't very long, because I wanted to put the battle in this chapter too, but then I came up with some little ideas and I realized the chapter would turn out way too long if I would still add the battle to this....So the battle is gonna be in the next chapter! It might not be all that different from the final battle on the show, but we'll see about that later, okay? Now, please review! I love reviews! Thanks!  
  
Steffanie (a.k.a Nice-one) 


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Angel or any of the characters.  
  
**Spoilers**: Only if you haven't seen the last couple of episodes of Buffy...  
  
**Pairings:** B/A! Some Spuffy, very little C/A, some Connor/Cordy, maybe a little Fred/Wesley/Gunn (you know about their love triangle)  
  
Okay, I feel incredibly guilty right now! I haven't updated in about 3 weeks! That's bad, isn't it? But I really can't help it....It's just that I've been really busy with school lately and I've been sick for a couple of days, so....I know, they're all just lame excuses, but it's really true. But now I'm back....  
  
So, this is the chapter with the first part of the final battle in it. It's very similar to the show. The dialogue is a little different, but I did use some phrases that were used on the show....and of course Angel is there, so I guess it is kinda different from the show. Well, just read it and tell me what you think!

Oh....I almost forgot: Thanks for the great reviews! I love all of them!

* * *

**Chapter 4**  
  
When Buffy saw the school coming closer she couldn't believe how scared she was. She knew what was inside there and she knew she had no choice but to fear it, but at the same time she knew they actually stood a chance against it. Robin was leading the group to the school and Buffy was walking behind him. Angel walked next to Buffy and the rest followed. Spike and Dawn were last in line. They had almost reached the school now. Buffy stared at her axe, but it didn't exactly make her feel better or more superior....She was just scared.  
  
"You okay?" Angel suddenly asked her.  
  
Buffy looked up at him and slowly nodded.  
  
"Yeah....just great" she softly said.  
  
"This is gonna work" Angel tried to assure her.  
  
"It better...." she said.  
  
They had reached the school now and they were going in. Robin opened the door and they all walked into the school trough the hallway.  
  
"Welcome to Sunnydale High. There's no running in the halls, no yelling, no gum chewing. Apart from that, there's only one rule. If they move, kill them" Robin told the rest of the group.  
  
Somewhere in the middle of the hallway, they stopped walking. Buffy sighed. This was it. It was really gonna start now. She took a deep breath.  
  
"Angel, you and Spike take the girls to the basement. I'll be right there. Faith go with them...make sure they won't scratch each others eyes out.....No offense, Xand"  
  
"About the eyescratching....Did you mean Spike and Angel or the girls?" Faith asked, with a smile on her face.  
  
"Just keep an eye on all of them" Buffy honestly said.  
  
Faith smiled. Spike and Angel looked at each other. Without saying anything Spike and Faith walked into the direction of the seal. The girls followed them and after Angel gave Buffy one more look, he walked after them. Buffy turned to the rest of the group.  
  
"I'll go and make everything ready for you, okay?" Kennedy told Willow.  
  
Willow smiled at Kennedy and handed her the bag. Kennedy walked away. Buffy turned to Robin. He turned to the rest of the group and started to talk.  
  
"If the ubervamps get out of the seal, there are three ways they can go. Down the hall that way, the North Hall over there and most importantly: through the lounge straight to the science building."  
  
Buffy nodded.  
  
"Robin and Giles take the the lounge....I think most vamps will go through there....Xander, I want you with Dawn....You two take the North Hall..." Buffy said.  
  
"That leaves me with little mr fake supervillain!" Anya complained, looking at Andrew.  
  
"We feel your pain" Xander told Anya.  
  
Buffy turned to Dawn.  
  
"Dawn...."  
  
"I know. You love me, you're sorry for putting me through all of this, you want me to move on in case you won't make it.....did I leave anything out?" Dawn asked.  
  
"Yes...be careful"  
  
Dawn looked at her sister for one more sec, then she turned to Xander.  
  
"I'll be right back....Need some alone time"  
  
Xander nodded, then Dawn walked away.  
  
"I'll walk you there" Robin said, because he was getting the feeling they didn't need him here anymore.  
  
Dawn gave him a weird look.  
  
"You're walking me to my alone time?"  
  
"Just walk" Robin quickly said and Dawn and Robin walked away.  
  
Xander and Anya looked at each other.  
  
"So, it will be just me and mr fake supervillain now, huh?" Anya said.  
  
"I personally think the term supervillian is way underrated. People don't realize how hard it is to stay at the top as a well-known supervillain" Andrew said to no one in particular, but they all just ignored him.  
  
"No, it will be all of us against Mr First.....You might not see us, but we'll be there" Xander tried to reassure the woman he loved.  
  
"Well, now...that makes me feel better.........or not!"  
  
"We'll make it through this, An" Xander said.  
  
Anya just nodded. She sighed.  
  
"Come with me nerdy-boy" she said.  
  
Andrew looked up and followed Anya as she walked away.  
  
"I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die" Andrew kept repeating softly, but just loud enough for everyone to hear it.  
  
"And a lot sooner than you think if you don't shut up right now" Anya said.  
  
When they couldn't hear either Anya or Andrew anymore, the other four looked at each other. Giles, Xander, Willow and Buffy.  
  
"So, this is it, huh?" Willow said.  
  
"Depends on your defenition of 'it'" Xander said.  
  
"Well....the battle is gonna start soon, so....'it' would mean.....the battle" Willow explained.  
  
"Good, cos for I minute there I thought by 'it' you meant 'the end'" Xander said.  
  
When they heard the word 'end' everyone looked at Xander.  
  
"What?! Everyone's thinking it, why can't I say it?" Xander said a little offended.  
  
"No, you're right....it could be the end" Giles said.  
  
"Yes and the Easter Bunny could marry Santa Claus" Buffy said sarcastically.  
  
"Santa Claus is gay?!" Xander asked, a little shocked.  
  
"Could be" Buffy said and she shrugged.  
  
"The Easter Bunny is male?!" Now it was Willow's turn to act a little shocked.  
  
The others looked at her.  
  
"Yeah, Will. We kinda thought you knew that......" Buffy said.  
  
"We kinda thought everyone knew that" Xander corrected Buffy.  
  
"Well...you know me....always much for feminism" Willow defended herself.  
  
"What does the Easter Bunny have to do with feminism?" Giles asked.  
  
Now the group all looked at Giles.  
  
"I'm just asking...." he said.  
  
"Come on, Bookman....Gotta keep up with the conversation" Xander said.  
  
They all smiled and looked at each other. This could be the end. They all knew it, but for a minute they forgot all about it. They thought back about certain memories of High School and all the crazy things they had gone through.  
  
"Grouphug?" Willow suggested.  
  
"Oh yeah" Xander agreed.  
  
He put his arms around Willow and not much later Buffy joined them. Giles stared at the scene in front of him. The other three looked up and gave Giles a questioning look.  
  
"Oh...what the hell..." and he joined the grouphug.

* * *

Buffy sighed when she walked down into the basement. Now it was really gonna start. She felt even more vulnerable now, because she had to give Willow her axe and she was completely unarmed now. When she entered the basement she saw all the girls standing around the seal. Faith, Spike and Angel were standing behind the girls. Everyone looked up when they heard Buffy coming in. Buffy stopped walking and stared at everyone.  
  
"Let's do this" she eventually said and stepped forward.  
  
She joined the girls around the seal and so did Faith. Buffy stared at Spike and Angel standing behind them. Angel nodded at her and Buffy was suddenly incredibly glad he was here. Spike just looked at her, but Buffy knew he believed in her. She took another deep breath and looked at Faith.  
  
"Ready?" she asked her.  
  
"Let's just get it over with, right?" Faith said.  
  
Faith handed her the knife and Buffy made a little cut in the palm of her hand. She stared at it when she saw the blood. When she figured there was enough blood, she held it above the seal and drops of blood fell on the seal. The seal immediately reacted and a bright light came out of it. Buffy handed Faith the knife and Faith repeated Buffy's action. When all the girls had done the same, they felt how the earth beneath them started to move. It felt like an earthquake and bright light come from the seal. They all stepped back and covered their eyes from the light. Then the seal moved, but because of the light it was impossible for them to see what was going on. Suddenly the shaking stopped and the bright light dissapeared. They all looked at what had happened. The seal was gone and a staircase had been formed. Buffy stepped forward and looked down, but she couldn't see what was down there.  
  
"We're not going in there, are we?" Rona said.  
  
Buffy didn't answer her, but instead she walked down the stairs. Faith followed her.  
  
"I guess we are" Another Potential, Vi, answered Rona's question.  
  
The group of girls followed the two Slayers and so did Spike and Angel.  
  
Buffy, Angel, Spike and Faith were standing on the edge of a huge cliff and they all looked down.  
  
"Can I just say that this does not look good?" Faith commented.  
  
Nobody reacted, they all just stared down. Then Buffy turned around to face the group of girls who were all standing in a straight line, holding their weapons, the expression on their faces told Buffy they were terrified.  
  
"What's down there?" One of the girls, Amanda, asked.  
  
"Vampires.....lots of them...."  
  
"And with 'lots of them' you mean....." Rona started.  
  
"I've never seen this many vampires" Buffy told the girls.  
  
"Can we...." Amanda asked, pointing at the cliff.  
  
"Knock yourself out" Buffy said, not believing she was still this calm.  
  
The girls slowly came closer and looked down. When they saw all the ubervamps some of them stepped back. Down there were at least a thousand vampires. Probably thousands of thousands.  
  
"We are so dead" Vi said and she was one of the few girls who hadn't stepped back.  
  
"You think they've seen us?" Angel asked.  
  
The minute Angel asked this, the ubervamps looked up and started growling, then they started to make their way up to Buffy and her army.  
  
"....Never mind...." Angel murmured.  
  
"How long will it take them to get up here?" Rona asked.  
  
"Not long....but long enough" Faith said.  
  
"Long enough for what?" Another Potential asked.  
  
"For all of you to get strong" Buffy said.  
  
The girls all looked at each other. It was really gonna happen. They were gonna become Slayers. Buffy looked at Spike and he nodded. He took the amulet out of his pocket and hung it around his neck.  
  
"What does that do?" Faith asked, pointing at the amulet.  
  
"Oh...you know....it could save the world and all" Spike answered.  
  
"Oh.....okay" Faith responded like that explained it all.  
  
Angel walked up to Buffy. He gave her a look and walked away from the group. Buffy walked up to him and gave him a questioned look.  
  
"You gave him the amulet?" he asked.  
  
Buffy sighed, but looked up at him. Did he really have to bring that up now?  
  
"I didn't have a choice" Buffy answered.  
  
Angel looked at Buffy in amazement and pointed at himself.  
  
"Am I not standing here?"  
  
"You're not wearing the amulet" Buffy decided.  
  
Angel didn't say anything. He moved his gaze from Buffy to Spike who was staring down at the amulet around his neck.  
  
"Why him?"  
  
"Cos he wants to"  
  
"And I don't want to?" Angel asked.  
  
"We don't know what this amulet does to the person who wears it"  
  
"I volunteered to find out!" Angel spoke up.  
  
"It will very likely kill him....you know that" Buffy suddenly whispered.  
  
Angel sighed and looked at Buffy. He knew this was not the time to fight over this. They could clearly hear the ubervamps now and they didn't exactly sound friendly.  
  
"Does he know that?" Angel asked Buffy.  
  
"Yeah"  
  
Angel nodded and looked at Spike again. The expression on his face was determined. Angel knew he was jealous of Spike. Jealous of whatever it was that Spike and Buffy had, jealous of what Spike wanted to give up for Buffy. He loved Buffy and knowing they could probably never be together still hurt so much. He knew Buffy felt the same way, but somehow she managed to find somebody who could give her what he couldn't. And that hurt...He moved his gaze back to Buffy and looked at her. He recognized the look in her eyes. She had made up her mind and there was no way he could change that.  
  
"I'm sorry.....for deciding to give you a chance to live" Buffy said, then she turned around and walked back to the group.  
  
Angel sighed and stared at Buffy. He knew what she meant. She wanted him to live....And he knew he was being childish, but he really didn't want it to be Spike who ended up saving the world.....no matter how childish that sounded. And at the same time her words made him smile. It was some sort of sign that she still loved him. That she cared about him. He walked up to the group again. Suddenly Faith and Buffy looked at each other.  
  
"You feel it?" Buffy asked.  
  
Faith nodded. The girls formed a line again and they were all surprised when they felt the power going through their veins. Even Buffy and Faith could feel it.....The power they felt was indescribable and with the power came the confidence. Faith and Buffy exchanged looks.  
  
"She did it. Willow did it" Buffy said and for the first time she was convinced that they were gonna win this.  
  
Buffy turned around to face the girls one more time.  
  
"This is it. You're all Slayers now....Use the power wisely..."  
  
One of the girls handed Buffy a sword and when she turned back the sounds of the ubervamps became louder. They all knew they had almost reached them now. When the first ubervamp appeared, Buffy finished her sentence.  
  
"..And whatever you do......Hold the line!"

* * *

**A/N:** Okay, now that was chapter 4....part 1 of the final battle. Please review and let me know what you think! And I'm sorry if I dissapointed all of you when it comes to the Angel/Spike action....There is gonna be a little Angel/Spike scene in the next chapter though!  
  
Steffanie (a.k.a Nice-one) 


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer....or Angel for that matter.....and I don't own any of the characters.  
  
**Buffy/Angel crossover!**  
  
**Pairings:** Mainly Buffy/Angel.....a little Spuffy, probably Cordy/Angel, there might be a little Connor/Cordy action (nothing gross!) and I think a little bit about the love triangle between Fred/Gunn/Wes....

**A/N:** Once again I want to apologize for the lack of updates.....I'm so sorry, but I think I will update more often from now on, because I have time enough to write now. However....this Saturday I'm going away for two weeks, so I won't be able to update for two weeks. I'll try to update once more before I leave, but I can't promise anything...The good news is that I'm gonna write a lot when I'm away, so that means a lot of updates after those two weeks. Once again, I can't promise anything, but I'll do the best I can.

So...part 2 of the final battle.....I'm not entirely happy with it, but it's okay I guess. This is part 2 and it's the last part of the battle too, so don't worry.

Thanks for all the great reviews!

* * *

**Chapter 5**  
  
When Kennedy entered the basement and saw the open seal, she hesitated for a minute. Did she really want to go down there? She loved some action, but this kind of action was new to her and she wasn't sure she could handle it. She looked down at the axe in her hand and she felt the power running through her veins. She knew she had to go down there, even if it was only to give Buffy the axe. Part of her really wanted to go down there too. She slowly walked down the stairs and she could hear the sounds of the battle that was going on beneath her. She was surprised when she saw an ubervamp climbing the stairs towards her. For the first time ever she felt fear. Kennedy looked down at her axe again. When the ubervamp attacked her, she first kicked it in the stomach, but it didn't seem to have much effect. The ubervamp kept his balance and started fighting back. He hit Kennedy a couple of times, before she was able to decapitate him with the axe. Kennedy smiled when she saw the vamp turning do dust. This was cool! She quickly walked downstairs, only to be greeted by more vampires climbing up the stairs. She fought some of them, but eventually couldn't take them all anymore. She had to let some of them go and she hoped the others in the school would be ready to fight these vamps. Kennedy realized she didn't have the time to kill every single one of these ubervamps. The most important thing was to get the axe to Buffy. She looked around and was amazed to see all the vampires. She looked for Buffy, but didn't see her, because of all the action that was going on around her. Suddenly she got kicked in her back and she fell forward, flat on her face. The axe fell down next to her. Before she even had the time to get up, an ubervamp grabbed her, turned her around and helped her up by grabbing her throat. Kennedy felt how the ubervamp lifted her up from the ground and she had trouble breathing. She felt how the confidence she had only rediscovered minutes ago was fading away and was replaced by fear. She looked at the ubervamp who was holding her and she knew he could break her neck by only making one little move. He was choking her and Kennedy did the best she could to break free. Just when she thought there was no hope left and she didn't have the strength to do anything anymore, the vampire turned to dust and she fell on the ground. She was relieved when she could finally breathe again and she grabbed her neck. Then someone helped her up and Kennedy saw that it was Angel who had saved her life.  
  
"Are you okay?" He asked her, and she knew he was really worried.  
  
Kennedy wasn't sure she could talk yet, so instead she just nodded.  
  
"Can you still fight?"  
  
Kennedy cleared her throat.  
  
"I think so..."  
  
Angel nodded, then he turned around, grabbing another vampire and turning it to dust with his stake. Kennedy looked around and saw the axe still lying on the ground. She picked it up.  
  
"Angel!" she yelled.  
  
Angel turned around and looked at her.  
  
"Where's Buffy?" she asked him.  
  
Angel looked around for a few seconds, eventually spotting Buffy.  
  
"Over there....on the other side"  
  
Kennedy sighed and looked at everything that was going on around her. It was going to be a long way to Buffy. She killed another vamp and so did Angel. They fought side by side for several minutes. While Angel was fighting one of the ubervamps, he said:  
  
"I'll get the axe to Buffy"  
  
He punched another ubervamp and Kennedy had to do a couple of steps back when an ubervamp kicked her. She felt the pain, but somehow it didn't bother her. She was actually enjoying this.  
  
"Are you sure?" she asked him, while she threw one of the ubervamps against the wall.  
  
"Yep...I'm faster than you" Angel answered.  
  
Kennedy nodded, even though she knew Angel couldn't see that.  
  
"Take it" she yelled and she threw the axe his way. Angel caught it and he immediately decapitated two vamps with it. He threw his stake towards Kennedy so she wouldn't be completely unarmed. Then he made his way through the group of vampires and Slayers, killing some vamps here and there on his way.

* * *

Buffy was fighting somewhere near the big hole with vampires. She was doing pretty good so far, but every time she looked into the big hole and saw how many vamps were still on their way towards them, she felt how pointless this was. This way they were only buying time. There were too many of them.  
  
"Rona....over there, on the left!" Buffy yelled, when she saw one of the other Potentials in trouble.  
  
Rona wanted to walk to the group of vampires and help the girl, but another vampire kicked her stake out of her hand and it fell on the ground. Rona kicked the vampire and another Potential took care of it. Rona turned around, looking for her stake, but didn't see it. Buffy noticed.  
  
"Rona....here!" she said and threw her own sword towards Rona.  
  
Rona caught the sword and quickly made her way towards the group of vampires that were attacking the other Potential. When Buffy heard one of the girls scream, she knew one of them was hurt, possibly even dead and the feeling that went through her was indescribable...She felt responsible for all of these girls and she knew she couldn't save them all, but it still felt like it was her fault if any of them died. She searched for Spike, to ask him about the amulet, but she didn't see him. She did see Faith though and fought her way over there.  
  
"Faith! Have you seen Spike?!" she asked her.  
  
Faith looked up and looked around for a few seconds. Then she shook her head. She went back to the ubervamp she was fighting and took his head between her hands. Then she broke his neck. The sound of of the breaking neck gave Buffy goosebumps, but she didn't have time to think about it. Faith knew this wouldn't kill the vampire, so she pushed the vampire towards one of the Potentials who gladly took the vampire from Faith and killed it.  
  
"This is not going well" Buffy said.  
  
"What do you mean?! It's going great!" Faith said, already fighting another vamp.  
  
Buffy sighed as she fought off a couple of vampires that were coming her way.  
  
"We can never take all of them!" Buffy yelled back at Faith.  
  
Faith's eyes left the vampire she was fighting for a sec and she looked at Buffy.  
  
"The amulet" was all Faith said, before going back to fighting the vampire.  
  
Buffy nodded, even though she was pretty sure Faith couldn't see that, because she was too busy with 'her' vampire.  
  
"He's probably on the other side" Faith said.  
  
"We have to find him" Buffy responded.  
  
He was the only one who could end this.

* * *

Angel made his way through the vampires around him, waving the axe around, killing some vampires with it along the way. He looked around, trying to spot Buffy, but all he saw were ubervamps and a Potential here and there, trying to get themselves from getting killed. He raised the axe once more and swung it around, decapitating an ubervamp with it, then he suddenly stopped and froze up when he saw what he had almost done.  
  
"Bloody hell" Spike said as he looked down at the axe on his throat.  
  
"Spike" Angel said, putting the axe down.  
  
"Good reflexes" Spike commented.  
  
"Duck!" Was all Angel said.  
  
Spike frowned.  
  
"What?"  
  
Angel saw the ubervamp approaching Spike from behind. He raised his sword. Angel quickly pushed Spike aside, who fell on the ground and he staked the ubervamp with the other side of the axe. When the vamp turned to dust, Angel helped Spike up.  
  
"So, I guess you don't hate me as much as you say you do, huh?" Spike said.  
  
"A normal 'thank you for saving my life" would have been enough, Spike"  
  
"I mean it. Cos you just did, you know? Save my life"  
  
He picked up the sword the ubervamp almost killed him with and looked at it.  
  
"Kinda regretting it already" Angel sighed.  
  
"So, why did you?" Spike said as he stabbed a vamp that came up to him. Then he took another look at his new weapon and smiled a little.  
  
It took a while before Angel could answer, because he had to take care of some ubervamps coming his way. Their strength still amazed him. They were vampires, just like him, but they were probably stronger than he was. Luckily, they were all about the kill and didn't have much with the 'thinking' aspect of fighting, which was an adventage for those who fought them. After he killed the last vampire, he turned back to Spike, who was also taking care of some ubervamps.  
  
"You're the one saving the world, right? You can't do that when you're a pile of dust...and I really don't wanna take your place...... Speaking of saving the world: How's that amulet-thing going?"  
  
Spike heard how the head of the vamp he just decapitated fell on the ground, before his head and the body turned to dust.  
  
"The bloody thing isn't working"  
  
"You've tried the on/off switch?" Angel said with a serious look on his face.  
  
"Oh yeah, that's funny....What am, I? A moron?"  
  
"Is that a rhetorical question?" Angel asked.  
  
They were both still fighting the vampires while talking with each other. Spike decided it would be best not to answer that. He decided to bring something else up instead.  
  
"You're a big fat liar, by the way" Spike told Angel.  
  
"What are you talking about?" Angel said, a little annoyed.  
  
"You're whole 'I really don't wanna take your place' speech, you gave me just now"  
  
Angel staked two vampires at the same time, before turning back to Spike.  
  
"What?!"  
  
Even Spike stopped fighting the vamps and he turned to Angel. The two stood in front of each other, looking at each other.  
  
"You would have loved to be Buffy's hero" Spike said.  
  
"I thought this was about saving the world....I guess that doesn't mean anything in your universe, does it? It's all about Buffy"  
  
"Oh come on! Like you haven't thought of it that way!"  
  
"You really think that sacrificing yourself is the answer?"  
  
"Buffy doesn't love me. She's in love with someone else. You know that just as well as I do......Doing this for her....for the world....It's the least I can do....and it might make her......"  
  
"Love you?" Angel tried to finish Spike's sentence.  
  
"It might make her think that she does, yeah......"  
  
"You're pathetic"  
  
"And I'm saving the world"  
  
Angel shook his head. He was getting really tired of Spike. He turned around and wanted to get back to fighting the vamps, when he saw the little, blonde woman standing in front of him.  
  
"I believe that's mine" Buffy said.  
  
"Eh...yeah...I was just on my way to...." Angel didn't finish his sentence and he switched weapons with Buffy.  
  
Buffy immediately used her super weapon and killed some of the vamps with it.  
  
"I love this thing" She said to no one in particular, while she looked at it.  
  
Then she looked up at Spike and walked up to him.  
  
"How's saving the world going?"  
  
Spike looked down at the amulet. He took it in his hand and wanted to tell Buffy that the stupid thing wasn't working. He immediately had to let it go again, because it was incredibly hot. Before he had the chance to tell Buffy this, he felt a sharp pain going through his body and a bright light came from the amulet, which quickly blinded everything and everyone around him. The light spread around him and all the ubervamps turned to dust as soon as the light hit them. Spike had to do a few steps backward to control the amulet, because he suddenly felt enormous pressure on his chest. The pain had gotten worse and Spike screamed. Buffy, Angel, Faith and the Potentials ducked away and covered their eyes from the bright light.  
  
"Spike!" Buffy yelled.  
  
Then Spike felt something else, besides the pain and the pressure on his chest.....Strength. He was going to save the world. He was really going to do it and no one was going to stop him.  
  
"I would say saving the world is going pretty good at the moment!" Spike growled, the pain only getting worse, but a small smile appearing on his face.  
  
This is it. It was really gonna start now......

* * *

A/N: Yeah, I know....Not the best chapter ever, but.....Well, I don't know. I'll try to update asap! Please reveiew!

Steffanie (a.k.a Nice-one)


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy the Vampire Slayer or any of the characters.  
  
Pairings: Buffy/Angel.....some Buffy/Spike (there comes an end to that in this chapter though), a little Cordy/Angel maybe...and maybe some other pairings.  
  
Hey everyone! Thanks for all the great reviews! And sorry for once again not updating in quite a while.... Anyway, this'll be the last chapter that takes place in Sunnydale, because after this chapter the story is going to take place in L.A! With the Angel cast....and some of the Buffy cast, so it'll really become a Buffy/Angel crossover!  
  
Enjoy!  
  
And please review!

* * *

Then the whole place started to shake and rocks fell down all around them. Buffy turned around to Faith.  
  
"Get everyone outta here!" she yelled.  
  
Faith nodded.  
  
"Everyone, this way!" she yelled to the Potentials.  
  
She walked to the staircase and the Potentials ran towards her, trying to avoid the falling rocks. Faith now realised building would come down and that they didn't have a lot of time left. All the Potentials climbed the stairs. Buffy tried to get closer to Spike, who was trying his hardest not to scream because of the pain he felt. Angel stared at the scene going on in front of him. He wasn't sure what to do now. Suddenly they heard Faith scream. Buffy and Angel quickly turned around, trying to find out what was going on. Faith had fallen to the ground after she had been hit by a rock of some kind. It had hit her in the head and she collapsed onto the ground. Spike hadn't even noticed. Angel immediately ran towards Faith. Buffy had a concerned look on her face. More rocks started to fall down now.  
  
"Faith..." Angel said when he had reached Faith.  
  
Faith opened her eyes and looked around with a confused look on her face.  
  
"You okay?" Angel asked, while he slowly helped her to get up on her feet again.  
  
Faith nodded slowly and brought her hand to her forehead. Angel saw the huge cut above her eyebrow, but he didn't say anything. Blood rolled down her face and Faith saw the blood on her hand. She was still holding on to Angel, because she felt a little dizzy. Angel turned to Buffy.  
  
"We have to get out of here. The whole place is gonna come down"  
  
Buffy nodded.  
  
"You take Faith. I'll be right there...."  
  
And she turned back to Spike. Angel hesitated for a sec, then he made a decision and helped Faith up the stairs. Before he was upstairs, he took one last look at Buffy who was standing in front of Spike now, then he walked away with Faith.  
  
A little while later they were walking through the hallway towards the exit of the school. Faith still couldn't really walk on her own yet and Angel was also a bit worried about the cut on her forehead. It looked pretty bad.  
  
"Go back" Faith, suddenly said.  
  
Angel looked at her.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Go get her" she said.  
  
Angel looked away, trying to hide that he was indeed a bit worried about Buffy.  
  
"She'll be fine" he said. It almost sounded convincing.  
  
Faith smiled a little, but Angel didn't see it. He was always stubborn like this.  
  
"Yeah, she probably will be fine, but I know you would feel a lot better if you could go and get her"  
  
"Maybe....but I can't. You can barely walk"  
  
"We're almost there. I'll be fine"  
  
"Are you sure?" Angel asked. He really was concerned about Faith.  
  
"Would I say that it if I wasn't? Hurry now....Before the whole place comes down"  
  
Angel stared at Faith. She had that determined look on her face that he knew so well. They stopped walking and Angel slowly let go of her.  
  
"See....I'm still standing" Faith said when she was standing on her own.  
  
"I'm more worried about the walking" Angel confessed.  
  
"I'll crawl to the exit if that is what it takes. I'll be fine! Go now...."  
  
Angel hesitated for one more moment, then he walked back. Back to Buffy. Faith watched him going back into the basement, then she turned around and stumbled to the exit.

* * *

Angel walked down the stairs and was surprised to see what was going on down there. He saw Buffy standing in front of each other, just like when he had left, but they were holding hands....and their hands were on fire. That was new. How come it didn't seem to hurt any of them? They were staring into each others eyes, but neither of them said anything. Angel walked a little closer, but they didn't seem to notice. He saw the look on Buffy's face. A look of pain. Not physical pain, but something else....He saw the tears in her eyes. It hurt him to watch her like this. He didn't want her to hurt or get hurt and yet, he has seen her hurt so many times before. He saw how Spike opened his mouth and tried to say something. It took a while before sound came out.  
  
"Go now....We don't want both of the heroes to die in this battle"  
  
Buffy didn't react to what he said. Angel knew it was selfish of him to think like this, but he wondered who Spike meant when he said 'two heroes'. Angel wasn't sure if Spike had noticed him, but Angel would be surprised if he hadn't, so....who did he mean? Did he mean himself and Buffy? Or Angel and Buffy? Angel smiled to himself. Why does he even care about that? Angel looked at Buffy. He could see that she really didn't want to let go. His gaze moved to the hands again. They're still on fire.  
  
"Buffy...." Angel said.  
  
Buffy's startled and quickly turned around, letting go of Spike's hand. The second she did that, bigger rocks started to fall down and Angel was getting a little worried. They didn't have much time left. Buffy looked at Angel. Then she turned back to Spike.  
  
"Hurry luv. Before it's too late" Spike whispered.  
  
Buffy nodded. She brought her hand to his face, but didn't really touch his cheek. Spike closed his eyes as if he could really feel her touch. Then Buffy took her hand back and took a few steps away from him, still looking at him. Spike opened his eyes again and saw how Buffy was slowly walking away from him. Then he yelled:  
  
"Go!"  
  
Buffy immediately turned around and started running away. When she passed Angel, her hand brushed against his. Angel looked at Spike, but Spike was caught up in his own world, staring down at the amulet. Then Angel followed Buffy. Together they ran up the stairs, through the hallway. Now the entire place was coming down and they all know it it's only a matter of minutes before there would be nothing left of the school building. They stop walking when they're near the exit. The entire exit was blocked, because the ceiling had come down over there. Buffy hesitated for one sec, then she turned around and walked back towards a staircase that led them upstairs. Of course Angel followed.

"Where are we going?!" Angel yelled to her.  
  
"The roof" Buffy simply answered.  
  
They ran up the stairs and Buffy led him to the roof. Angel felt the wind against his face and it felt good. Really good. They ran over the buildings, while the buildings behind them collapsed to the ground. Angel didn't know how fast they were running, but he doubted that he had ever run this fast before. Suddenly they saw a big yellow school bus driving next to the buildings. Buffy turned around and looked at Angel. Angel nodded. Then Buffy jumped off the building and landed on the bus. Angel waited a few more seconds before jumping after her, landing next to her on the bus. The bus kept driving for several more minutes, leaving Sunnydale, although there wasn't much left of it anymore, behind them. Angel and Buffy didn't speak. They just let the feeling of making it through this battle slowly take over them. Then the bus stopped. Angel heard how the door opened and people came out of the bus. Angel slowly got up and jumped off the bus. Buffy got up too and Angel held out his hand. Buffy grabbed his hand and jumped off the bus. Buffy looked around and saw her sister. Dawn immediately came up to her and gave her a big hug, but Buffy didn't let go of Angel's hand. Angel saw Faith getting off the bus, holding something against the cut on her head. Faith saw Angel and she smiled at him. Dawn let go of Buffy again. Everyone had gotten off the bus now, except for those who were too badly injured. Xander looked around.  
  
"Where's Anya?" he asked.  
  
Andrew stepped up to Xander and placed his hand on his shoulder.  
  
"Uh.......she....uh...she was really brave" Andrew stuttered.  
  
Xander looked down at the ground. Anya, the love of his life, hadn't made it through. Buffy looked at Xander and for a few seconds, a feeling of guilt went through her. It quickly disappeared though, because she knew it wasn't her fault. Xander looked up at Andrew again.  
  
"How did it happen?"  
  
Andrew wasn't sure how to answer this. He didn't want Xander to know how it really happened.  
  
"I didn't see it...but I'm sure it happened really fast and wasn't painful at all" Andrew tried to comfort Xander, but obviously didn't really succeed.  
  
Buffy and Angel looked at each other, still holding hands. Buffy smiled a little and Angel tried to smile back. Then Willow opened her mouth. Kennedy was helping her to stand up, because Willow was still incredibly tired from the spell she had done.  
  
"We made it" she said.  
  
A smile appeared on Buffy's face. And for the first time ever, she really felt like she had won. She had made sacrifices, just as Spike had told her, just as she had made in every battle, but this time something was different. Maybe it was, because she didn't just stop evil this time, but stopped the First Evil. The thing that was mainly responsible for all the evil in the world. For most of the horrible things she had to go through. And knowing that they had stopped it, felt good. Really good.  
  
"So, what are we gonna do now?" Xander asked.  
  
Everyone looked at Buffy. Buffy just shrugged.  
  
"Whatever we wanna do, I guess" she said.  
  
"Well....we have to get those who are injured to the hospital." Giles started. "And have to find all the other Slayers out there"

Could you please not remind me of that for the next....decade?" Buffy joked. "Let's just enjoy this moment"  
  
They all stood in silence for another while, staring at what once had been Sunnydale.  
  
"Oh....does this 'enjoying the moment'-thing really has to take a decade, cos....well...." Willow started.  
  
"What is it Will?" Buffy asked.  
  
Then they all heard it. Someone's cell-phone was ringing. Everyone looked at each other. Then Angel realised it was his phone. He let go of Buffy's hand.  
  
"Oh...that's mine. Sorry" he said, while he searched his pockets for his phone.  
  
"You have a cell-phone? Since when?" Buffy asked in surprise.  
  
"Ehh...it's kind of a Cordelia-thing." Angel explained. Then he took his cell-phone out of one of his pockets and answered it.  
  
"Hello?....Hey Fred!...Calm down, I can't hear you....What?!....How? When?....Oh.....That sounds bad...............Yeah, absolutely. I'll be there as soon as I can.........Sewers?.....Oh, okay.....yes......Hang in there Fred. I'm on my way........."  
  
Then he hung up the phone. Everyone stared at him.  
  
"What's wrong?" Buffy asked.  
  
"There's kind of a situation in L.A. Hard to explain. Cordy had her baby and...."  
  
"She was pregnant?" Buffy asked.  
  
"Remind me to tell you that story later. Fact is, that she had her baby, but it turned out to be a mind controlling creature of some sort that has taken control over everybody in L.A. I don't know everything, but they really need me there...The situation sounded pretty....Apocalyptic"  
  
"From one Apocalypse to the other" Dawn stated.  
  
"The story of my life" Angel said.  
  
"I'll come with you" Buffy said. "I might not be the only Slayer anymore, but that doesn't mean I can't stop the world from ending every once in a while"  
  
"Yeah...I'll come too" Faith announced. "After a little stop at the hospital anyway..."  
  
And she pointed at the cut on her forehead.  
  
"I would come too, but....I think some people need to stay behind to take care of the Slayers...and track down the other Slayers." Willow said.  
  
Kennedy nodded.  
  
"I'll stay with Willow and Kennedy then" Giles said.  
  
Buffy nodded and turned to Dawn.  
  
"I want you to stay with them too. They could really use your help"  
  
"You think?!" Dawn asked with a proud look on her face.  
  
"Absolutely. Your researching skills are almost better than mine" Willow said.  
  
Dawn smiled even more.  
  
"And after we have dealt with whatever there is in L.A, we'll be back" Buffy assured her sister.  
  
"I'll come with you, Buf" Xander suddenly said. "I know I can't really help, since walking without breaking any objects around me is already a mission impossible, but.........I just need to get away for a little while"  
  
Buffy nodded. She got that. She actually couldn't wait to get away from here too. Just to get her mind off things that had happened here.....So she would be able to get over her loss. She had lost Spike and it hurt more than she thought it would.  
  
"I'll just join Mr Giles and Willow......for those who wanted to know that" Andrew suddenly said.  
  
"I don't think many people did, pal" Xander said.  
  
"Ssshhh......I have a lot of fans among those Slayers. They have deep respect for me, since I managed to turn away from the dark side." Andrew whispered to Xander.  
  
Xander just gave Andrew his famous 'yeah, sure'-nod.  
  
Buffy looked around.  
  
"Well, let's get on the bus then. First stop: hospital. Second stop: L.A."  
  
Everyone nodded and got back on the bus. Buffy and Angel were the only ones still standing outside the bus now.  
  
"Are you okay?" Buffy asked, taking his hand again.  
  
Angel nodded slowly.  
  
"Are you worried about your friends?" she asked.  
  
"Yeah.....it sounded really bad"  
  
"Don't worry...It's gonna be fine. We're gonna make it fine"  
  
Angel nodded and forced a smile on his face. Then the two of them stepped into the bus. The engine started and the bus started to drive away from the place once known as Sunnydale. Now nothing more than a big hole.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Angel.....or any of the characters.  
  
Hey guys!  
  
This is a pretty fast update, huh? For me at least. There's a reason though. My internet isn't working too well.....so....I thought I'd update before my internet decides to stop working again.  
  
So....I can't promise when I'll update again. Hopefully soon!  
  
Thanks for all the great reviews! Glad you all like this fic!  
  
Some of you had some questions, here are the answers:  
  
**Thelionessrules:** You're absolutely right. The real battle occurred during the day, but I kinda made some changes....and as you can read in chapter 3 (I think), in this fic, the battle takes place during the night.....So Angel could come too.  
  
**Melanie:** Okay, you had three questions: The first one about the amulet has kind of an easy answer. First of all, you are right: since the thing with W&H didn't happen, it shouldn't be possible for Angel to have the amulet. And I know I should have brought that fact up earlier in the story so I could have fixed it, but.....when I started this fic, I hadn't seen how Angel had gotten the amulet yet (I had seen the Buffy finale though....twice), so when I started this fic, I didn't know about the whole W&H thing. But I fixed it though. It'll probably come up in the upcoming chapters, but.....Angel found the envelope with the files and the amulet on his desk, but he didn't know how it got there and his main priority was to get the amulet to Buffy......and later on it turns out it came from W&H and then that story-line starts.   
  
You're other question is a bit more difficult, cos: Good point! It is indeed very unlikely that Buffy knew about Connor. But....let's just say that they talked about it before. After he had arrived or something. Maybe they did some catching up and I didn't write about it.....But that was indeed a mistake. I do know why I made that mistake though....I wrote a one-parter in which Angel comes and tells Buffy about everything and stuff (it's called There will never be a last goodbye), so...in my fanfiction-mind Buffy knew about Connor, when she really didn't.....So please forgive me for that. :-s   
  
And the third question is the easiest: Yes, Jasmine is still Connor and Cordy's (gross btw....that story-line was really disturbing!)

* * *

Chapter 7

They had almost reached L.A now. Buffy looked at Angel who was sitting next to him in the car. Xander had fallen asleep in the backseat and Faith was trying the best she could to keep pushing his head away every time he tried to rest his head upon her shoulder. Buffy smiled. After they had gotten back on the bus, they had driven to the nearest hospital in the next town. As it turned out, none of the Potentials, or Slayers now, had been too badly injured, but some of them had to stay at the hospital for a few nights. They had treated Faith's injuries as well and luckily, the cut above her eye hadn't been as bad as it first appeared. They had been able to fix it with a few stitches and although the doctors ordered Faith to take some rest for the next week or so, Buffy knew that wasn't going to happen.  
  
Buffy had talked to Giles and Giles decided he would stay with the Slayers until they were recovered and then he and Willow and Dawn, would take them to England, where they would start up some sort of Slayers school. Buffy had promised Giles she would come to England as soon as they had dealt with the situation in L.A. Suddenly Buffy felt how tired she was She hadn't realised that until now.   
  
"You okay?" Angel asked.  
  
Buffy nodded.  
  
"Yeah, fine. I could just use some sleep......for the next 8 days or so"  
  
Angel smiled.   
  
"And I'm hungry" Faith announced.  
  
Although they had heard her, nobody reacted. Suddenly Angel stopped the car in the middle of the empty road.  
  
"What are you doing?" Faith asked.  
  
Xander was slowly waking up. He rubbed his eyes and looked around.  
  
"Where are we?"  
  
"L.A, dumbass. After all, that was where we're going" Faith said.  
  
"Oh yeah, Ms Smarty Pants? Let me tell you something. I might not be the brightest of all of us, but I can tell you that this is not L.A! L.A has.....big buildings....and stuff. This here, is nothing. An empty road with a few trees here and there" Xander said, clearly awake now.  
  
"We're almost in L.A. Fred said we should go through the sewers and that we had to make sure no one would see us. Because of the mind controlling thing." Angel said.  
  
He opened the door of the car and got out. Buffy looked at Faith and Xander.  
  
"That makes sense" Buffy said, while she got out of the car, slamming the door closed, leaving Faith and Xander in the car.  
  
"And it's not L.A!" Xander added, looking at Faith with a satisfied look on his face.  
  
"Yeah...so you want a cookie now or something?"   
  
"Actually, that would be pretty nice....I'm pretty hungry" Xander said.  
  
"Well, join the club" Faith murmured, then she got out of the car.  
  
Xander did the same thing.  
  
The four of them were standing on the deserted road now, looking down at the hole in the road that would led them into the sewers.  
  
"I hate sewers" Buffy complained. "They're smelly and I never know which way to go. I always walk around in circles and of course I never know that I'm walking around in circles until a few hours later.....They're just really not my thing"  
  
"And not to spoil the big sewers-adventure we're about to start, but....How are we ever going to find Fred down there?" Faith said.  
  
"I know my way down there and Fred told me where she would be. We once killed a group of demons there" Angel replied.  
  
"Okidoki then" Xander said. "I say, let's get into the smelly sewers and party!"

* * *

A few minutes later they were all walking through the dark, creepy sewers. Angel was leading the other three, since he knew the way and he could see the best in the dark.  
  
"Are you sure we're going the right way?" Xander asked.  
  
"Yes, I'm sure" Angel replied, trying to hide how annoyed he was by all of this. He just wanted to get to Fred as soon as possible, to find out what was going on with everybody. With his son....and with Cordy.  
  
For a while, no one spoke and the only thing that could be heard were their footsteps and the sound of water coming from somewhere around them.   
  
"Oh...hey, I found breath mints in my pocket! Don't know how long they've been in there, but they're breath mints, so there can't be much wrong with them, right? Anyone want one?" Xander asked.  
  
"Me, please" Buffy said.   
  
Xander tried to find Buffy's hand and when he had, he handed her a breath mint.  
  
"Thank you" Buffy said.  
  
Xander was surprised she was still this happy and....active, after the exhausting battle and after losing Spike. But then again: he was still his happy old self too. And he knew Buffy well enough that the shock and emotions would kick in after a while. Just like they had with the Master.  
  
Maybe it was like that with him too.  
  
"Hey, give me one too" Faith sorta asked.  
  
"Of course, my lady" Xander said and gave Faith a breath mint.  
  
"Is a certain creature of the night also interested in a breath mint?" Xander asked Angel.  
  
Angel didn't respond. He was too caught up in his own world, trying to figure out if they really were going the right way. And he was worried. About his friends and about his son. Xander decided not to ask any further and they kept on walking in silence, for what seemed like hours.  
  
Suddenly they saw some light right ahead. It looked like a flashlight or something, but the light didn't move.  
  
"What's there?" Xander whispered.  
  
"Fred" Angel whispered back.  
  
"Finally" Faith murmured under her breath. She had enough of walking through the sewers. And she really had to eat something.  
  
"Fred!" Angel said out loud.  
  
They heard some moving and then someone stepped into the light. It was Fred.  
  
"Angel!" Fred said, not able to hide how glad she was to see him.  
  
They had reached her now. And Fred immediately hugged Angel.  
  
Xander immediately looked at Fred with a weird look on his face.  
  
Then Fred let go of Angel and looked at the other three.  
  
"Oh...hello everyone....Faith...and two people I don't know"   
  
"Hey, you're female! With female....parts and all!" Xander suddenly said.  
  
Everyone looked at Xander.  
  
"It's just....Fred...I thought...Fred.... male...And now you're....female." Xander tried to explain himself.  
  
Fred wasn't sure how to react to that. Luckily Buffy stepped in and held out her hand.  
  
"I'm Buffy. Buffy Summers"  
  
Fred shook Buffy's hand and looked at her in amazement.  
  
"Ehh...I'm Fred. Fred Burkle. Winefred Burkle actually, but everyone calls me Fred."  
  
"Well, it's nice to meet you Fred" Buffy said and flashed her one of her charming smiles.  
  
"And it's such an honour to meet you! Angel talks about you all the time."  
  
"He does?" Buffy asked surprised and gave Angel a look.  
  
"Well, not all the time....but he talks about you sometimes."  
  
"Huh....that's nice to know" Buffy said.  
  
Then Xander pushed Buffy a little aside.  
  
"Hi, I'm Xander......Harris......Xander Harris." Xander stuttered.  
  
Before Fred could say anything to do this, Angel said:   
  
"Or you could just call him dumbass. Seems to work really well too"  
  
Faith chuckled. Xander gave Angel a fake smile.  
  
"Thank you for that introduction, pointy-teeth" he said.  
  
"My pleasure"   
  
A little silence fell and everyone stared at each other.  
  
"So.....got some food around here?" Faith suddenly asked, looking at Faith.  
  
Fred hesitated before answering.  
  
"Eh...yeah. I brought some food with me. It's not much though.....It's in there"  
  
She pointed to the big hole in the wall. Fred hesitated, then she went inside. The others followed. They came into some sort of round room. It was dark, but Fred had taken the flashlight with her and there were candles all over the room and Fred took some matches out of her pocket to light them. Angel placed an iron plate in front of the hole in the wall and turned around.  
  
"I knew this place would come in handy at some point"   
  
Fred had lit all of the candles and she looked around.  
  
"I know it's not much, but......There are some blankets over there and I brought my sword...it's over there...And there's food over there...."   
  
Faith immediately walked up to the where Fred had pointed at and looked through the food. She immediately started to eat something. Xander looked at Faith.  
  
"How are you doing, mrs Selfish?" he said.  
  
Faith looked up from eating and sighed. Then she threw a package of chocolate cookies his way.  
  
"Thank you"   
  
Xander and Faith sat down on the floor somewhere and enjoyed their 'food'. Buffy realised she wasn't hungry at all.   
  
"Fred...how are you really doing?" Angel asked.  
  
"Not too good" Fred answered truthfully.  
  
"Why don't you tell us everything that's going on?" Buffy asked and she smiled at Fred, trying to make her feel a little bit more comfortable.  
  
Fred nodded and sat down on the cold floor. Buffy and Angel hesitated, then they sat down too. Fred began her story.

* * *

A/N: I'll try to update asap! Please review! Would really appreciate that!

Steffanie (a.k.a Nice-one)


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Angel...or any of the characters.

Okay, I'm back!

Thank you for all the great reviews and I apologize for not updating in like...months! It's the fault of my writers-block! It sucks...and so does this chapter! And it's also a short chapter. Kind of a filler, but it's still an important chapter (so maybe it's not really a filler). I'm still mostly trying to figure out the plot of the I know what I want, but it turns out to be a little more complicated than I thought, so...Gimme some time to make everything right.

Oh..and for the person that said the chapters were a bit chipper....That's true and I realize that it doesn't make a lot of sense, because Buffy just lost Spike and Xander just lost Anya and...they've been through quite the battle, but.....I didn't wanna turn it into a sad story just yet, because they also have another pretty big battle waiting for them and the characters are going to have to deal with so many other things, you know? So...the L.A story line just started and I don't wanna make it all dark and depressed because of what happened in Sunnydale, because it would kinda take away the effect of the story line....But I'll make everything alright, promise! And I'll try to make the chapters a little less chipper, because you do have a point! :D

* * *

Chapter 8

After Fred had told her story, everyone sat in silence. They all knew the situation had to be serious, but....they hadn't realized it was this serious.

"Wow...that's quite the story" Faith eventually broke the silence, slowly stuffing another cookie into her mouth.

Xander nodded in agreement.

"And also complicated" he added.

No one disagreed with that.

"Where is Cordy now?" Angel asked.

"Probably in the hotel...Under Jasmine's spell" Fred answered. "Just like all the others" she added sadly.

"And the only thing to break the spell is by...touching...Jasmine's blood?" Buffy asked.

Fred nodded.

"Okay....just to keep things in perspective"

"But everyone is alright, right?" Angel asked Fred.

"Sure.....except that they go all psycho killer on every human being that's not under Jasmine's spell.....which used to be just me. And Jasmine eats people......but, other than that, everyone's fine. And at least it's not me alone against the rest of L.A anymore."

"No, now it's the five of us against the rest of L.A.....much better odds" Xander said.

Fred knew he was being sarcastic, but she really felt so much better now she wasn't alone anymore. She knew it wouldn't make a big difference, because if the people attacked them, they wouldn't stand a chance, but...whenever Angel was around, she always felt as if she could do anything. Angel kind of had that effect on people.

"There has to be a way to stop her.....that Jasmine woman" Faith spoke up.

"But how? It's as if she can't be killed. Plus, she's got everyone in L.A protecting her...Everyone believes she's bringing peace and....stuff" Fred said.

"Well, whatever we do, we've gotta do it fast, before more innocent people die....and before she puts the entire world under her spell." Angel announced.

Buffy saw the worried look on his face. She felt bad for him. She knew what it was like to have the weight of the world on your shoulders. Although, technically the five of them were in this together, Buffy knew that Angel felt as if he was in this alone. Because his friends were in danger....because L.A was territory.

"So....does anyone have a plan?" Faith asked.

"I say we just take one step at the time" Buffy started. "And the first step is that we have to get some of Jasmine's blood before she puts us under her spell and it'll be Fred against the rest of the world".

"And how exactly do we get Jasmine's blood?" Xander wondered.

"Without getting killed by her bodyguards" Fred added.

Buffy shrugged.

"I'm still working on that part of the plan"

"The plan's easy" Faith suddenly said and everyone looked at her. "We don't need Jasmine's blood. She's Cordelia's daughter. Cordelia's flesh and blood. So Cordelia's blood should be just as effective as Jasmine's, right?"

She looked around to see if everyone agreed with her.

"I guess..." Fred said.

"Tomorrow morning before sunrise we go to the hotel and get Cordelia's blood. My guess is she'll still be in bed....she must sleep at some point...one of us climbs in through the window and gets the blood. We'll be gone before the sun comes up. We just have to avoid the crazy Jasmine fans. It's Easy." Faith explained her plan.

"In theory" Angel agreed.

"I see a few problems" Fred spoiled the party. "First of all: there's a good chance Cordy will wake up when we take her blood....since it hurts and all....and she might not even be asleep in the first place. Or be in her room..."

"We should be able to find her, even if she isn't in her room" Angel solved the problem. "The hotel isn't that big....We'll find her. And she'll probably be easier to find than Jasmine."

"And if she starts screaming I'll gladly knock her out" Faith offered.

"What if we run into Jasmine when we're at the hotel?" Fred asked.

"Then we're under her spell...game over...a sucky ending to a sucky day" Xander said.

"Let's just pray we won't run into her then..." Buffy said.

A silence fell.

"My plan kinda sucks, doesn't it?" Faith asked.

It remained silent. The other four looked at each other.

"Yeah...." Buffy admitted.

The others nodded slowly in agreement.

"But at least we have a plan. It's all we have right now....and it'll just have to do" Angel said.

No one dared to say anything to that. They knew he was right. They had to start somewhere....and Faith's plan was their only shot.

Angel checked his watch.

"We're leaving in 2 and a half hours. I suggest we try to get some sleep before we leave..."

They nodded. Faith curled up in a corner, murmuring something about feeling like a homeless person. Xander rested his head against the cold, hard wall. Fred walked over to another corner of the 'cave'. Apparently she had already slept here the night before, because she had a few blankets and had turned the corner in a cosy place to sleep. Or as cosy as a corner in cave could be. She looked around, then she took some of the blankets and handed them to Faith and Xander and another one to Buffy. Fred wanted to get another blanket for Angel, but she realized she didn't have to when Buffy spread out the blanket over herself and Angel. Angel didn't seem surprised. Buffy rested her head against Angels chest and he put one of his arms around her. Fred had heard so many stories about Angels past. Including some about Buffy. She was supposedly the love of his life. Fred knew all the stories about their impossible love. The Slayer and a vampire...It had always seemed kind of poetic to her and now to see the two of them together, she realized it really was poetic. She smiled a little and looked around the room. Two Slayers, a vampire, a one-eyed funny guy and a genius...Maybe they were stronger than they thought they were...

* * *

A/N: Short, I know! And...it's also really bad! But...I needed to write this chapter. I'll try to update soon with a more exciting, longer chapter....with more action, but...this is it for now. You know what to do now! That little purple button is waiting for you...

Steffanie (a.k.a Nice-one)


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer:** The usual. I don't own Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Angel. Or any of the characters. I just own my pretty computer that allows me to write...which I really enjoy!

**Pairings:** Eventually B/A (although I do realize there hasn't been a lot of B/A action just yet...That'll all change! Promise!)

**THANKS FOR ALL THE WONDERFUL REVIEWS! I LOVED EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM! YOU MAKE MY DAY! :D**

**Trickster-jz:** Thanks for saying those nice things about this fic! And no, Buffy doesn't know about Angel and Cordelia and what's going on between them...which isn't a whole lot, since Cordy slept with Connor and stuff...but still. Buffy has no idea those two are...well, I don't wanna say 'in love', but....interested...in each other. Oh and don't worry about being a little behind when it comes to Ats. Just ask whenever you wanna know something!

**A/N:** Alright, well...honestly writing this chapter wasn't easy. Like I mentioned before, I know what I want with this story, but I haven't figured out the minor details just yet, which causes some problems. I have tons of idea though, so I'm sure it'll all work out, but it isn't easy. So please be patient and if you have ideas, let me know in your review...I might use them. Okay, well...enjoy the chapter. Hopefully it doesn't suck too much and please leave a review! Thanks.

Steffanie (a.k.a Nice-one)

* * *

**Chapter 9**

Buffy slowly opened her eyes and looked around. Where was she? She sat up straight and yawned. Then she remembered: she was in L.A. Or actually, she was in the sewers of L.A. Her head had been resting against the wall when she woke up and the spot next to her was empty. Her eyes were adjusting to the dark and she noticed the dark figure standing in a corner.

"Angel?" Buffy said.

Angel moved a little and did a few steps forward.

"Ssssh...be quiet" he whispered. "I don't wanna wake the others. They need their rest"

"Is it time to go yet?" Buffy asked, whispering this time.

She slowly got up from the cold floor and walked up to him. Angel shook his head.

"No...we're leaving in about 30 minutes"

"What's going on?" Buffy asked. "Why aren't you sleeping like everyone else?"

"I couldn't. I thought it had something to do with an adrenaline-rush from the battle, but then I realized I probably don't have adrenaline rushes...being a creature of the night and all. Which is also a reason I'm not sleeping"

Buffy smiled.

"Maybe you're worried" she stated.

"Maybe...." he agreed.

"After all, your son and friends are in danger...and you want to save them, I get that. Not to mention the responsibility you feel towards all the other people...the world...You have to save everything and everyone"

"Hearing you say that just takes the pressure right off" Angel whispered, sarcastically.

"I'm just saying that I know what you're feeling right now...Maybe that makes you feel better" Buffy explained. "And you're not alone...We're all here to help you. Like you all helped me"

"That does make me feel better" Angel said.

"Good...good"

"And it means a lot to me that you're here...After everything that's happened between us"

"Of course I'm here...I'll always be here. You know that, right?"

Angel nodded.

"I'm sorry" he suddenly whispered.

"Sorry?" Buffy asked, not sure what he was talking about.

"About Spike. And I'm sorry for not saying it sooner. I know you cared about him."

Buffy looked away. Spike. She hadn't thought about him in a few hours...She almost felt guilty about it. She suddenly realized how much she was going to miss him. His sarcasm, his jokes, his strength, his shoulder to cry on, his love for her. Life wasn't going to be the same without him.

"Are you okay?" Angel asked her.

She looked up again and gave Angel a reassuring smile.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks for saying that. I...I just want you to know that even though Spike was in my heart, he wasn't...."

She didn't know how to finish that sentence. She also knew she didn't have to.

"I know" Angel said.

And they both knew what she meant. No love in the world was stronger than their love for each other. And there never was going to be love that was strong than their love for each other. They didn't need to say it out loud though...They both knew it. Buffy moved a little closer to Angel. She looked at him. The familiar eyes, lips. She saw how he started to lean in and their heads moved closer and closer. Buffy closed her eyes when their lips finally touched and brought her hand to his cheek. She knew it wasn't supposed to happen, that it wouldn't make things better, but yet it could never be avoided when they were together. They deepened the kiss and it brought back memories neither of them wanted to remember, simply because they were too wonderful...and too painful because of that. They could never be together. They both knew it and they both hated it. No matter how much they wanted it, it could never happen. It was why Buffy eventually broke the kiss. This was only going to make things more complicated and that was the last thing they needed. She didn't step back though and being this close to him didn't make it any easier. Eventually it was Angel who stepped away. An awkward silence was all that remained.

"We...we should probably wake the others" Buffy ended the silence. "So they can get ready"

Angel nodded.

"Yeah...that's probably a good idea"

Neither of them moved though or showed any intention to indeed wake the others up. They just stood there, looking at each other.

"Is...Xander going to be okay?" Angel asked, trying make things less awkward.

Buffy was surprised by his question, but she also knew he was just trying to make conversation to break the silence.

"....Yeah, I think so. I hope so...He's trying to pretend nothing is going on and that he's fine. I know he's not. And he knows he's not...I just don't think he's ready to deal with it just yet. Give it time"

Angel nodded slowly.

They both looked up when Faith moved and sat up. She looked at the scene going on in front of her.

"Bad timing?" she asked.

"No...not at all" Buffy answered.

"Oh...good. Cos it would suck if I even have a bad timing when it comes to waking up. When it's completely unintentionally."

Nobody reacted.

"Who else would kill for a shower right about now?" Faith asked as she got up from the floor.

"I think we would all kill for a shower" Buffy agreed.

"Not literally though" Xander said, who had woken up too. "Is anybody else sore? Cos this floor is really nothing like my big fluffy mattress at home....not that I have a home or anything, besides a big hole in the ground, but....you get my point"

"How's your head?" Angel asked Faith.

"Still attached to my neck...which I've been told is a good thing" Faith joked.

Everyone stared at the one person who hadn't woken up yet. Fred. She was curled up in a corner and had pulled the blanket over her head, so only a small part of her forehead was exposed, proving it really was Fred asleep in the corner.

"Should we wake her up?" Buffy asked.

"We can't leave her here...she would freak out" Angel said. "Besides, we need her. She knows exactly what's going on"

"She seems awfully comfortable on that cold, hard floor though" Xander said, rubbing his sore limbs.

"Well, that can be explained" Faith said.

"Yeah, Fred lived in a cave in a hell dimension for a while....a long while" Angel explained.

He walked up to Fred and kneeled down next to her.

"Fred..." he tried.

She didn't move.

He slowly pulled away the blankets and softly shook her a little.

"Fred...Wake up"

Slowly Fred started to wake up.

"Angel?" she asked.

"Yeah, it's me. It's time to go"

When Fred noticed the others staring at her, she quickly sat up.

"Oh, I'm sorry...I was just...."

"Reliving your time in the hell-dimension. We get it" Xander said and he smiled at Fred.

Fred got up from the floor.

"Well, who needs Cordelia when there's Xander for all your subtle comments?" Faith sarcastically said.

When she realized what she had said, she quickly added:

"Sorry...I didn't mean we don't need Cordelia...I'm just saying that Xander wasn't exactly being subtle...and since that isn't exactly Cordy's strongest point either, I...."

"We get it" Angel said.

A silence fell. This time it wasn't an awkward silence. They were just thinking about what was to come and what was going to happen. They were all afraid things wouldn't work out and the world would be doomed. They couldn't let that happen....and they wouldn't.

* * *

By the time they had reached the hotel, the realization of how serious all of this was had kicked in. People had been walking aimlessly through the streets, announcing how great Jasmine was, how she was their 'rescuer' and how she brought peace. A woman had come up to them asking them if they had ever felt this great before, Angel had responded with a no, knowing they couldn't risk being exposed. Fred was very afraid. She was scared people would know she wasn't under Jasmine's spell, since Jasmine and some of her bodyguards were after her, but it seemed as if besides Jasmine and her helpers, no one knew about it. Luckily.

"You know, this is my hotel" Angel said. "My stuff is inside there..."

"Then I say it's time we take it back" Faith said.

"Yeah...and we will...just not now. We came for the blood. We have to stick to the plan" Buffy said.

"Who died and made you the leader of the group?" Faith asked.

"You mean besides Anya and Spike?" Xander asked her.

"Alright...wrong choice of words...but why is she suddenly the leader?"

"I'm sorry, but wasn't this your plan? To get the blood?" Buffy said, a little offended.

"Yes, exactly...which is why I have the right to change my plan. All the people here are crazy! I want to end this right now"

"Don't you think we all do?" Fred asked, softly.

"But we can't. One step at the time, remember?" Buffy said.

"Buffy's right. We stick to the plan. One step at the time" Angel spoke.

Faith shook her head, but didn't say anything. Just like no one dared to say anything to that. They all looked up at the building.

"Maybe we should just walk in through the front door" Xander suggested.

"Right...so we can immediately run into Jasmine, make her our goddess and doom the rest of the world? Yeah...let's do that" Faith sarcastically said.

"Jasmine is never downstairs...unless announced otherwise and she makes a quick appearance for her admirers...The lobby is probably filled with them" Fred said.

"So...maybe my plan isn't that bad" Xander said proudly.

"We could pretend to be admirers and sneak in" Buffy continued working out the plan.

"We could sneak upstairs and find Cordy" Fred said.

"Sounds like a plan. And it also sounds much better than climbing in through bedroom windows....plus it's MY plan, so..." Xander said.

Angel stared at the hotel, thinking. The others were waiting for him to agree to the plan...or not. Eventually Angel opened his mouth.

"Yeah..alright...Let's do that"

It didn't sound like he had a lot of faith in the plan, but the truth was that none of them had a lot of faith in it, considering all the risks they were taking.

"And it's save for me too....they won't notice me in the big crowd" Fed said, relieved.

"The only thing we have to make sure of is that we don't run into: Gunn or Wes or Lorne...or Connor....or Jasmine of course." Faith said.

They all nodded. It didn't sound like waterproof plan, but they also knew they didn't have a choice. It was now or never.

* * *

They tried to act as casual as possible when they entered the hotel lobby. Fred had been right, the place was crowded with people. Even entire camera crews were there, reporting live from the hotel lobby. Angel realized how bad it would be if the camera only got a glimpse of Jasmine. It would cause the entire world to fall under Jasmine's spell. They split up and spread through the big crowd. They realized they didn't look that casual, because they kept looking around to see if the others were still there, but they hoped and prayed the people wouldn't notice. The stairs were guarded by big men who made sure no one would be able to get upstairs without permission. It was going to be tough to get pass them. Buffy searched for Angel and eventually found him standing near the stairs. He motioned for her to come to him. Buffy made her way through the crowd, trying to smile and look happy like every one else.

"This is sickening..." Buffy murmured, while making her way through the crowd. "No one smiles like this"

She finally reached Angel.

"Isn't this sickening?" she whispered in his ear.

"It was already sickening to begin with" Angel answered.

"Smile" Buffy ordered him.

Angel tried to bring a smile upon his face. Buffy saw Faith on the other end of the room, smiling the fakest smile Buffy had ever seen. Fred and Xander were standing together still near the door. Ready to leave any second.

Buffy nodded to the stairs.

"Any ideas?" she asked Angel.

"Yep...you are going to distract them"

"Me? Distract THEM?"

Angel nodded.

"Distract them? As in flirting with them?" Buffy asked, just to make sure.

"You can do it"

"Of course I can do it...but I'm not going to, because....they would be oblivious to my flirting. There's only one thing on their mind: Jasmine. Even I can't change that" Buffy objected.

Angel sighed.

"Then what are we gonna do?" Angel asked her.

"We're going to tell them that we have something for Jasmine...that she send us to get her some food....or something"

"Fred said she eats people" Angel said.

"Even better, cos we can just pretend to be the food"

Buffy searched for eye contact with Faith to let her know she had to come over here. Faith picked up the hint pretty fast and made her way through the crowd. Fred and Xander had noticed it too and walked up to Buffy and Angel.

"What's the plan?" Xander asked, when they were all standing together.

"We're gonna be Jasmine's food" Buffy announced.

Before the others had a chance to react to that, Faith looked at the stairs and said:

"I have a better idea: Hide!"

Everyone looked up and saw a guy coming down the stairs. Fred, Angel and Faith had immediately recognized him. It was Gunn. The three of them looked around, then crawled under a table that was standing near them.

"What's wrong?" Buffy asked.

"Gunn" Angel said from under the table.

"Oh...great" Buffy said.

She and Xander moved and stood in front of the table, trying to cover up that three people were hiding under it. Gunn made his way down the stairs, pass the big men. He passed Buffy and Xander without even looking at them twice. A woman that was standing next to Xander had noticed the three under the table and gave Xander a weird look. Xander hesitated, then he stuttered:

"Yeah, I know...Kinda weird, huh? It's just....They are so happy. They were so excited about Jasmine that they just HAD to......hide under the table....We all have our ways to express our happiness."

The woman didn't seem convinced, but she walked away anyway.

"Smooth" Buffy told Xander.

Gunn was still walking through the crowd. He looked at all the different people. Then he walked pass a camera crew that pulled him in front of their camera and started asking him questions. His back was facing them now. The opportunities weren't going to get much better.

"Now" Buffy said, while walking away from the table to the stairs.

"Now what?" Xander asked, clueless about the plan.

Fred, Angel and Faith got up from under the table and followed Buffy. Xander did the same.

Buffy stood still in front of the big men and smiled at them. The men smiled back at them.

"Hi. I'm here with.....the people Jasmine asked for" Buffy said, trying to act normal, but happy.

The men exchanged looks.

"Jasmine already had her people for the day" One of the men spoke.

"Oh....really?" Buffy asked. "Well...that makes sense, cos I'm a little late. But...Jasmine specifically asked for these people. She's not going to be happy if she won't get them"

Fred decided it would be best to stand behind Angel, since he was the biggest and there was a chance the men would know about her. Angel kept one eye on Gunn.

"Let me ask Jasmine's father about this first, okay?" Another one of the men said. "Just wait here. I'll be right back"

_Connor!_ Angel thought. The man was going to ask Connor.

"Why don't we come with you immediately? Otherwise you have to come back to get us when he says it's okay" Buffy said.

The men exchanged looks again, then the man that was going to ask Jasmine's father nodded.

"Come with me" he said and climbed the stairs.

Angel saw how the camera crew was wrapping things up with Gunn. They didn't have much time left. They followed the man and started walking faster and faster, the fear of getting caught worse than ever.

"I really appreciate this." Buffy said. "And I'm sure Jasmine will too"

The man smiled. Buffy tried to smile back at him.

Then, the second they were out of everyone's sight, Buffy knocked him out against a wall.

"Sorry..." she said. "And I really did appreciate it"

Now they were standing in the big hall with doors on both sides. Where should they begin?

* * *

**A/N:** Okay, that was it for now. Pretty long chapter, huh? I'm so proud of myself! :-D No, just kidding. I had a lot of trouble writing this and I'm not entirely happy with it, but I'm glad I managed to finish another chapter! I'll try to update asap, but...my dad is probably going to get my computer fixed (its' not working like it's supposed to) and that could take a long time...months even. But it could also take two weeks, so I don't know if I'll be able to update any time soon. I'll try to though. I'll do the best I can. Well, thanks for reading this and please leave a review!

Steffanie (a.k.a Nice-one)


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I don't own BTVS or Ats or...any of the characters. That makes me sad sometimes, but...hey...what can I do about it?

Pairings: B/A!

A/N: Hey guys! I apologize for not updating for soooo long. It has been months, I know. And I can't even blame it on my computer, because my computer has been working pretty well for quite some time now...I just have to blame it on my inspiration. The lack of it, to be specific. But I'm back now. So please don't be mad...Thanks for all the wonderful reviews btw. It's nice to know you guys appreciate this story and my writing. It also motivates me to write more, so...that's all good. Anyway, enjoy! Please review!

* * *

Chapter 10

"Where's Cordy's room?" Buffy asked.

"On the other end of the hall" Angel told Buffy.

"Alright...well...we should hurry up, before they start to get suspicious."

They started to walk through the empty hallway, all wondering how long it would last until they would run into someone. That wouldn't be the end of the world, but it all depended on who they would run into. When they had reached Cordy's room, they all looked at each other.

"Do you hear anything?" Faith asked Angel.

Angel shook his head.

"No, but that doesn't really say anything. She might be asleep or something...."

Fred took a knife out of her pocket.

"If she's in there, someone just needs to make a small cut in the palm of her hand or something. Same goes for all of you. Then your blood has to touch hers...It's easy in theory"

Faith took the knife from Fred .

"I'll go in first" she decided.

She stood still in front of the door and looked at the others.

"Should I....knock first?" she asked, hesitantly.

"That would be the polite thing to do" Fred said.

"But on the other hand, we're not here to be polite" Xander said.

"That's true" Fred agreed.

"So no knocking?" Faith asked to be sure.

"No knocking" Buffy decided.

Faith looked at the others one more time, then she opened the door and went inside. She closed the door behind her.

The others that were still standing in the hallway, looked at each other. All they could do was wait. Xander sat down on the floor with his back against one of the doors. Fred followed his example. Angel was using his vampire hearing to find out what was going on in the room. Buffy sighed. She was afraid this was never going to work out. There were too many things that could go wrong. Suddenly she felt a little light in the head. She reached out for the wall next to her and brought her other hand to her head. This was really weird.

"Everything okay, Buff?" Xander asked, looking up at her.

Buffy tried to answer, but she couldn't open her mouth, let alone form words. She knew she had to sit down, otherwise she was going to fall down. She was slowly dropping herself on her knees, when she saw white flashes in front of her eyes. She tried to turn her head away, because the flashes were giving her a headache. It didn't help, the flashes were all around her. She tried to close her eyes, but it didn't stop the flashes. It was better than keeping her eyes open though.

"Buffy?"

She heard Angel's voice coming from somewhere far away...Very far away. She felt as if she was floating, but she couldn't tell for sure, since everything she saw were the flashes. She felt as light as a feather. Then all of a sudden the flashes stopped. Buffy kept her eyes closed for another minute or so, until she was sure that everything was okay again. When she eventually opened her eyes, she was surprised to find herself really sitting on her knees. She hadn't realized that she had actually fell down on her knees. She was still in the hallway of the hotel. In the same spot. Yet, everything was different. The walls seemed to be a different shade of red and so did the carpet on the floor. The weirdest thing was that she was all alone. Everyone was gone. She slowly helped herself up to her feet again. She was still a little dizzy and blamed the flashes.

"Angel?" she softly called out.

"No, luv. It's just me"

Buffy immediately turned around and was greeted by the familiar features of the vampire with a soul who wasn't Angel.

"Spike?"

She heard herself saying his name, but didn't realize she had really said it. She was too...shocked. Spike walked up to her, an amused look in his eyes.

"You look like you've seen a ghost" he joked.

Buffy knew how lame that sounded, but it seemed to be very appropriate at this moment.

"How is...I mean, where....wh-what is....You...You're..." Buffy tried to form a sentence.

"Dead? Yeah, this time in the literal sense of the word."

Buffy didn't know why, but all of a sudden everything seemed to make perfect sense. As shocked as she had been only minutes ago, so normal everything seemed now. She just wanted to ask the right questions and get the right answers.

"What is going on?"

"I told you I would never really leave you"

Buffy knew that was true. He actually did promise her that. It's the reason she gave him the amulet.

"Yeah well, I didn't think you would take it this literally"

Spike smiled.

"Haven't lost your sense of humour, I see."

"Or my sense of style. Unlike some of us. Didn't anyone ever tell you white just isn't your color?" Buffy said, while observing his clothes.

Spike looked down at his whiter than white pants and his white blouse.

"Where's the matching hat?" she added.

"No hat. Just one of the bloody rules of bloody heaven. You should know."

Buffy looked at him. Did he say heaven? Had he gone to heaven? Spike noticed the surprise looked on Buffy's face.

"Yeah, I was kinda surprised myself. Always thought of myself as quite a badass."

"It's nice, isn't it?" Buffy found herself asking.

Memories of the time she had spent in heaven filled her mind.

"It's nice and peaceful. Little boring, sometimes." Spike said and he grinned.

"So why are you here? Or why am I here?"

"They send me with a message"

"They?"

"You don't wanna know. You probably wouldn't understand. I'm not even sure I understand. It's above everyone's understanding....Explains their arrogance. Think they're special and all"

"What's the message?"

Spike put his hands in his pockets and looked at the woman standing in front of him.

"Her name"

Buffy frowned.

"Whose name?"

"Beats me. That's the message: Her name. Her name is the answer to the problem.

Buffy thought about his words. Her name. Her name was the answer to the problem. Whose name? And what problem? The only problem she could think of was Jasmine. And to call her a problem was a bit of an understatement. Was that what the message meant? No, it couldn't be. Jasmine already had a name. Right?

"Do you know what it means?" Spike asked.

Buffy looked up at him.

"Do you know anything more?"

Spike shook his head.

"Are you sure? This could be very important, Spike. I need you to tell me everything you know."

"I already have. They did ask me to give you something though"

Buffy gave him a questioning look as Spike got something out of his pocket. He held out his hand. A blue, shiny orb was in it.

"What's that?"

"I'm pretty sure it's some sort of portal to another dimension. Don't know much about it though, except humans can't survive there. I also heard something about a name-keeper. That's all I know"

Buffy reached out with a trembling head and took the orb from Spike. When her hand touched his, she looked up. He knew what she meant.

"Don't know why that is. It's like I have a circulation. I have a heart-beat now too. Ironic, considering I didn't have one when I was still alive...more or less."

Buffy smiled. She reached out her other hand and brought it up to his chest. When she felt the heart-beat underneath her hand, her smile grew wider. She looked up at him.

"It's a good heart-beat."

Spike smiled at her and Buffy took her hand back.

"You have to go now" Spike said.

Buffy nodded and looked down at the orb. She had to force herself to look up again. It was hard to say goodbye...Again.

"Well...maybe I'll see you again"

"Maybe you will" Spike assured her.

She tried to smile.

"Thank you. For the orb...and for being here"

"I'm just a messenger-boy" Spike shrugged.

"Well, if it helps...You're more than that to me."

"That does help"

"Good" Buffy whispered and once again looked down.

When she looked up again, Spike was gone. She smiled a little. This time, when the white flashes returned, she didn't close her eyes. She kept staring at the spot where Spike had been standing only seconds ago. Suddenly the hallway dissapeared. Now all she saw was black. It took her a few minutes to realize that she saw the black, because she had her eyes closed. Even though she was pretty sure she hadn't even closed her eyes. For a while, she wasn't sure she wanted to wake up, but then she realized she didn't have much of a choice. She opened her eyes and found herself lying in a bed. Xander was sitting next to the bed, looking at her.

"Hey" Buffy softly said.

Xander smiled.

* * *

A/N: This wasn't the longest chapter, I know, but I felt like I had to end the chapter here. I'll try to update asap though....although that might not be very soon, since I'm pretty busy with school and such. I'll do my best though. And you know what you guys could do to help? I think you do....Yep, exactly. Just click the little button that says: Go. And leave some kind words. Or not of course. Depends on what you thought of this chapter. Okay...well...I'll leave you and the little 'Go' button alone now. Have fun!

Steffanie (a.k.a Nice-one)


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Angel...or any of the characters...:-(

A/N: Another update! I'm so proud! It didn't take me as long as I expected. Although I should probably admit this is not the longest chapter ever...it isn't that short though and I kinda felt like I had to end it here, so....Anyway...Thanks for the reviews! I really loved them! So...keep them coming! :-)

Steffanie (a.k.a Nice-one)

Jason: Well....the story wasn't supposed to go like this, but your review kind of inspired me, so I added your idea to the story! Thanks for that! I give you all the credit for it!

Tariq: First of all: thanks for you review! Before I started this fic, I had all kind of plans and I wanted to include the Wes/Gunn/Fred relationship and...I had tons of ideas, but now I'm actually writing this, it's pretty hard to include all of that, so...yeah...I do kind of want to show the Gunn/Fred relationship, but I have no idea how yet. And the Wes/Willow thing would be pretty cool, but....how....I'm so focused on the Jasmine-situation right now, so...we'll see what happens. I really appreciate the ideas though!

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Chapter 11 

Buffy tried to sit up. She realized she was feeling just fine now. She wasn't even dizzy anymore.

"What's going on?" she asked, while looking around the room.

"You fainted" Xander answered, his smile growing even wider. "We were worried"

Buffy looked at Xander suspiciously. He didn't look very worried.

"Where are the others?"

She was all alone in a room with Xander. She figured they were in one of the rooms in the hotel.

"They'll be here soon. We all want you to meet somebody"

Buffy sat up straight. She frowned.

"What about Cordy? Did Faith get the blood?"

"Don't worry about that. We took care of it"

Buffy nodded slowly. She didn't really buy it. There was something strange about Xander's smile. Then there was a knock on the door. Xander immediately got up. He turned to Buffy.

"Are you ready?"

"Ready for what?" Buffy asked, not at all sure what he was talking about.

Xander started to walk towards the door. Buffy suddenly realized she didn't have the orb anymore. Xander said she had fainted, but she knew better. She hadn't fainted and it hadn't been a dream either. She searched under the covers and the pillow and was relieved when her hand touched the globe. She took the globe in her hands. Xander had reached the door now and opened it. When Buffy saw all the people standing in front of the door, she quickly hid the globe back under the pillow. She wasn't sure she could share this with everyone. The people entered the room. Buffy didn't know all of them, but she quickly recognized Angel, Faith and Wesley and the guy from downstairs. She believed his name was Gunn. Where was Fred? Faith and Wesley seemed extremely happy. Buffy didn't think she had ever seen Faith smiling like this. Angel immediately walked up to her.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine" she answered, not really paying attention to him.

Suddenly Angel bent forward and brought his mouth to her ear.

"They're all under her spell. We need to get out of here. Now. Before she gets here."

Buffy gave him a confused look. What had happened? All of sudden, the crowd of people in the room parted and made room for someone. A woman stepped into the room. Buffy felt something go through her. She swallowed. The woman that had stepped into the room was the most beautiful human being she had ever seen. She immediately knew it was Jasmine. _Oh God_, she thought. But to her surprise nothing happened. Sure, the woman was incredibly beautiful, but...she didn't feel any different. She looked around the room and saw how all the people dropped down on their knees. Angel hesitated, then he did the same thing.

"Hello Buffy" Jasmine spoke and she smiled at her.

Buffy realized she didn't have any other choice but to play along. She didn't know why Jasmine's beauty didn't get to her, but it just didn't. She would figure out why later. Right now she had to make sure she wouldn't get killed. Buffy got out of bed and dropped down on her knees in front of Jasmine. Apparantly that was the thing to do when she was around.

"It's okay. You can get up. All of you can get up" Jasmine announced and motioned with her hands to the people around her to get up.

Buffy saw how everyone slowly got up. Eventually she decided to do the same thing. Angel was the last one to get up. Buffy rested her eyes on Xander. He seemed so happy. The sad look he'd had in his eyes since Anya died, was completely gone now. It seemed unnaturel. Everything around her seemed unnaturel. Jasmine stepped forward towards Buffy. She smiled. Buffy tried to smile back, but didn't think she did a very good job. Jasmine brought her hand up to Buffy's face and touched her cheek. Buffy's first instinct was to step away, but she knew she couldn't do that.

"Thank you for joining us" Jasmine spoke.

Buffy didn't know how to respond to that. Instead, she decided to smile a little bit more.

"I'm sure you're going to like it here" Jasmine added.

Jasmine brought her hand back down and looked at Buffy once more, then she turned around.

"I think it's time for me to face the people in the lobby now"

Immediately, at least 5 of the people stepped forward, offering Jasmine to guide her downstairs. Xander was one of them. Jasmine just smiled.

"You can all come. If you want, of course. I'm not forcing you"

While she exited the room, everyone in the room followed her, including Faith and Xander. Jasmine turned around one last time. She looked at Buffy and Angel who were still standing in the room.

"Aren't you coming?"

Angel cleared his throat and smiled.

"We'll be there shortly. Maybe Buffy needs some time to get to herself first. It must all be very overwhelming to her"

Jasmine nodded.

"Of course. I'll see you in a minute then"

Angel nodded. Buffy just smiled.

Jasmine closed the door behind them.

Buffy sat back down on the bed. The dizziness seemed to return. None of this made sense to her.

"It didn't happen to you either, did it?" Angel softly spoke.

Buffy shook her head.

"She's beautiful though" Buffy answered.

"I know. There's still something wrong though. We might not be under her spell, but we're not exactly immune to it either"

"What do you mean?"

"You remember how Fred described Jasmine? The way Fred saw her? According to her is Jasmine the ugliest creature she's ever seen. We think she's beautiful"

"That doesn't make sense" Buffy said.

"I know...but we don't have time to figure it out right now."

"So...what should we do then?"

Angel sighed and looked at Buffy.

"I think we should get out of here now we have the chance."

"What about the others?"

"There's not much we can do for them now. We'll come back for them later."

Buffy nodded slowly. She knew Angel was right, but she really didn't like the idea of leaving Xander and the others here. She could only imagine how Angel had to feel right now. He had to leave his son and his friends behind.

"Just out of curiosity: Did Faith still get Cordy's blood? Before...you know?"

Angel took something out of his pocket. It was a small transparant box with a few drops of red blood in it.

"I guess weshould call that our lucky break" He said.

"You call that a lucky break?" Buffy asked, as a smile appeared on her face.

She took the globe from underneath the pillow and showed it to Angel.

"What's that?"

"Apparently, it's the answer to our problem"

Angel frowned.

"Where did you get it?" he asked.

"Let's just say I had a lucky break of my own. I'll tell you about it later. First we have to get out of here"

Buffy got up from the bed and looked at Angel. He walked towards the window behind the bed and tried to open it. It opened pretty easily and Angel looked down out of the window. He hesitated for a second, then he gave Buffy a questioning look. She shrugged.

"Not the mostgraceful exit I've ever made...but it'll do."

Angel smiled a little as Buffy started to climb out of the window. Maybe they weren't so powerless after all....

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A/N: So...did you like it? Yes? Really? Cool....tell me all about it! You thought it sucked? Please tell me what to do to make it better! Either way: click the little review button! Thank you! I'll try to update asap! Oh and one more thing: I just wrote a Buffy one-parter that I'm kinda proud of, so I would really appreciate it if you guys would read it and maybe leave a little review. It's called: New Shoes (Nice title, I know). Thanks in advance! 

Steffanie (a.k.a Nice-one)


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: Btvs or Ats is not mine. Not mine at all. I don't own anything Buffy or Angel-related.

THANKS FOR ALL THE REVIEWS! THEY MADE ME SMILE!

A/N: Another chapter! It isn't very long though. Sorry about that. Hopefully you'll enjoy it anyway. Let me know! The next chapter is going to be longer though. I think there are only 2 chapters coming up after this....so the end is near!

**Liz:** First of all: thank you for your review! And I know that the final battle took place during the day, but in my story it takes place during the night. I mentioned that in chapter 3...I believe. So...Angel didn't die! Thank God! :-)

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Chapter 12

While wandering the chaotic streets of L.A, Buffy looked up Angel. He seemed to be completely caught in his own thoughts. Buffy couldn't blame him. He had a lot on his mind. She was pretty sure they had been walking around for at least 30 minutes now. Buffy looked up at the sky and she realized the sun would rise in a little while. She had no idea where they were going though and she doubted Angel did know their destination.

"Angel?" she eventually asked.

Angel looked up at her. Buffy tried to smile at him. Suddenly a woman bumped into her and because Buffy hadn't seen it coming she almost fell to the ground. She looked up at the woman that had run in to her. She was a tall, dark-haired woman, probably in her mid-twenties. The woman mumbled an apology.

"It's okay" Buffy answered the woman.

Suddenly the woman looked up at Buffy and the expression on her face changed. She almost looked frightened. Then the woman ran off in a different direction. Buffy frowned and looked at Angel.

"What just happened?" she asked him.

"Don't know...it didn't seem good though."

"Maybe they all know about us. Maybe Jasmine told everybody."

"I doubt it." Angel answered. "We haven't been gone that long. Maybe Jasmine hasn't even noticed it yet."

That made sense.

"Maybe they feel it" She tried to come up with an explanation.

"Feel what?"

"That we don't...believe...or whatever."

"Yeah, maybe that's it."

A silence fell.

"It's almost morning" Buffy suddenly said. "The sun will rise in a little while"

Angel nodded slowly.

"What are we going to do?" she asked him.

It felt pretty weird to be asking him this. She was usually perfectly able of coming up with her own plans, but this time she couldn't think of a single plan. Everything seemed so messed up. And L.A was sort of Angel's territory. At the moment, she felt like the hero's side-kick, instead of the hero. She couldn't deny it felt pretty good. Although it was hard for her to figure out what she was feeling exactly, since there was so much going on at the same time.

"I don't know" Angel answered truthfully.

"Do you have any idea where we're going?"

"I think so."

Buffy was afraid to ask any further and she decided she just had to trust him. Which she did. The continued walking in silence. A rare sight in the middle of all the choas that was going on around them.

----

Barely 15 minutes later they closed the door off a motelroom behind them. Buffy looked around. It wasn't as bad as she expected it to be. It was actually pretty nice. Just like most of the stores and motels, this motel was abandoned, which made it easy for them to get a key of a room. Even from inside the room, they were still able to hear all the things that were going on outside. People were laughing and having fun. Buffy figured the owners of the motel were probably outside celebrating whatever it was they were celebrating. She hesitated before sitting down on the double bed in the middle of the room. Angel closed all the curtains in the room before sitting down on a chair in a corner.

"Do you still have the globe?" Angel asked her.

Buffy nodded. She took the globe from her pocket. It was still glowing. Buffy got up from the bed and handed it to Angel. He stared at it.

"What do you know about it?" He asked Buffy, not taking his eyes off the globe.

"Well...apparentlythe only way to defeat Jasmine is by finding out her name." She suddenly realized how stupid that sounded."Or something like that" She added quickly.

Angel didn't seem to notice what Buffy had just said didn't make a lot of sense. He was still focused on the globe. Buffy decided to continue her story.

"The globe is a portal to another dimension. One where people can't survive" She paused, trying to remember the rest Spike had told her. "You have to look for the name-keeper" she continued.

Angel looked up when he heard her use the word 'you'.

"As far as I know I'm still human" Buffy explained.

Angel nodded. He knew that of course. And he also knew he was the one who had to go find the name-keeper.

"How much time do you think we have?" Buffy asked.

"Not a lot I guess. They are probably looking for us as we speak." Angel answered.

Buffy nodded.

"What will you do while I'm gone?" Angel suddenly asked as he put the globe down on the small table next to him.

Buffy smiled a little. Ever since leaving the hotel, Angel had been very distant. Almost like he was a stranger to her. She hadn't liked it. He always did it when he was worried about things though. She was glad he was slowly becoming his normal self again. The Angel that cared about her. The human Angel. For as far Angel could become human of course. She shrugged.

"I think I might go back to the hotel"

"Why would you do that?"

"Keep an eye on things. Make sure everyone's alright."

"They have Fred" Angel spoke.

"Exactly my point. I should try to find her."

"You could get caught."

"I could get caught here."

"It's too dangerous"

"I think I can handle myself."

"What if you can't?" Angel asked her and looked at her.

Buffy hesitated before answering.

"Then you're gonna have to save me....again."

Angel smiled at her words.

"I guess I could do that" He told her.

"I figured."

Their eyes locked. Buffy suddenly realized how everything about him was familiar, yet so completely new to her. Like she never got the chance to really get to know him. Like there were so many things waiting to be discovered. By her. She knew she shouldn't think like that. Things between her and Angel were over. Well, maybe not over, but...it could never happen. No matter how much she wanted it to. No matter how much it hurt.

"Be careful" she whispered.

Angel nodded.

"I will" he eventually said.

She smiled a little, then she looked away. Otherwise she would start thinking about things she really didn't want to think about. Not right now at least. This wasn't the time.

Angel picked up the globe again.

"So...how do we open this portal?"

Buffy wanted to answer Angel that she didn't know, but she didn't have to. Right before her eyes the globe opened. Angel put it on the floor and a portal was quickly formed. It wasn't a portal that would lead to a field of daisies and bunnies. It was a black hole that looked very unwelcoming. Sounds came from it. Scary sounds. Screams, things that sounded like footsteps. Sounds usually only heard in horror movies. It gave Buffy goosebumps.

"I guess your question is answered." Buffy said, while staring at the portal.

Angel nodded slowly, not taking his eyes of the portal either. There was something eery about the portal. Something told him to do not do it. Like a little voice inside his head that warned him. He knew he didn't have a choice though. People were counting on him. His son was counting on him. The world was counting on him.

"I should go" Angel suddenly said.

Buffy nodded.

"Hurry" she said.

"I'll try"

He stepped forward and his feet almost touched the portal. He turned around and looked at Buffy.

"When did I save you?"

Buffy gave him a questioning look.

"You said I would gonna have to save you _again_. When did I save you?"

"You really need me to answer that?"

Off Angel's look she continued.

"You've saved me a million times. Maybe you didn't realize it, but you did..."

"In what way?"

"In every way you could possibly think of."

He nodded slowly.

"That's good to know."

She smiled.

"This is starting to sound like a goodbye" She said.

"It isn't."

"That's good to know" she told him.

She looked at him.

"You should go."

"Yeah, I should...Be careful, okay?"

"I will."

He gave her one last look. Then he jumped into the portal, which quickly closed after he had dissapeared. Buffy took the globe from the floor. It had stopped glowing. The blue color was gone. She sighed. Then she put it in her pocket. Now what? She looked up at the other door in the room. The one that would lead to the bathroom. She was longing for a shower. So that was what she was going to do. She was going to take a quick shower. After that she would go back to the hotel. Back into the snake pit.

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A/N: Please review! I'll update asap.

Steffanie (a.k.a Nice-one)


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I don't own Btvs or Ats. Or any of the characters...Don't sue!

Pairings: Mostly BA.

A/N: Another chapter! Not a very long one, but hopefully an entertaining one.

MBB: this question has been asked before, but let me just tell you that you will find out in one of the upcoming chapters. Hopefully that answers your question for now. Thank you for liking my fic and I might use your idea about C/X pairing...so Angel and Xander can fight over Cordy and Buffy. That's actually a pretty entertaining idea!

Tariq: Hopefully this chapter will satisfy you since I used some of the other characters! Sorry I haven't done that a lot until now!

Goddessa39: As you can imagine I'm not going to give you the answer to your question now...You're just gonna have to keep on reading to find out! Thanks for your kind words!

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Chapter 13

Fred moaned as she tried to sit up. She brought her hand to her head. It felt big. It felt big and it felt as if somebody was knocking on her skull with a hammer. Very unpleasant. She tried to remember what had happened, but it took while before it all came back to her. Jasmine and their plan to get Cordy's blood. The plan that obviously backfired. The last thing she remembered was the others falling under Jasmine's spell. That, and Connor hitting her on the head. God, she felt horrible. She sat up and looked around the dark room. She was in one of the smaller rooms on the second floor. These rooms were never used and they were close to empty. Fred just noticed a desk standing in the left corner. It was dark and it took her a few seoncds before she had figured out where the door was. She tried to get up her feet as she leaned against the wall. The dizziness immediately kicked in and she had to sit down again. _Crap, _she thought. She decided to give herself a few more minutes of rest before trying again. _I have to get out of here_. She tried to get up to her feet again. This time she was a little bit more succesful. However, she still had the wall to lean on and she wasn't sure she would make it to the door all by herself. Damn that Connor for knocking her out. When she finally let go of the wall, she immediately realized she wouldn't make it to the door. After a few steps she sat back down on the floor again. _Just until the room stops spinning_, she told herself. When she came to the realization the room wasn't going to stop spinning any time soon, she decided to crawl to the door. Just as effective. Crawling went much better than the walking and she made her way to the door.

"Don't bother. It's locked." A voice suddenly sounded.

Fred turned around and it was then she noticed the dark figure sitting on the floor in a corner.

"Connor!" Fred stated.

He got up from the floor and walked up to her.

"Connor, what's going on?" Fred asked.

"Did I hurt you?" He asked her.

"You knocked me out. That's never painless." Fred answered as sat down with her back against the wall.

"Sorry." Connor apologized.

"I'm more than willing to forgive you, if you let me out."

Connor sighed.

"You know I can't do that." He said impatiently.

"Why not?" Fred asked, already knowing the answer.

Connor didn't answer her. Fred looked at the expression of his face. He seemed very unhappy. His eyes were empty and he stared down at the floor.

"Look, Connor. I know you're trying to do the right thing, but Jasmine is not who you think she is. She is not..."

"She's wonderful" Connor interrupted her.

"No, she's not. She's trying to make you think that, but she's not. You have to believe that."

"I don't." Connor simply replied. "She makes it stop."

"Makes what stop?" Fred asked curiously.

"The fighting. The pain."

"Maybe she does make it stop, but the way she's doing it is wrong, Connor. You have to see that. She takes away the ability for people to think for themselves. To make their own decisions." Fred tried to explain to Connor.

"So?...No one seems to mind."

"Because they can't. They can't feel those things. They don't feel anything anymore."

"They feel happiness." Connor tried to prove Fred wrong.

"Because she wants them to feel that. It's not real Connor and you know it. You know what she's doing is wrong!" Fred spoke up.

"No, I don't!" Connor yelled.

Fred saw the anger in his eyes and she realized she had to stop here, before he would get too mad. She needed him. She needed him to help her. He was the only one. It seemed to her Connor wasn't exactly under Jasmine's spell either. His behaviour was different from the others. But somehow he was loyal to Jasmine anyway. It didn't really make sense to her, but she knew Connor was her only chance.

"Why are you here?" Fred whispered.

Connor looked at her.

"What do you mean?"

"The door is locked. You don't have to stay here to watch me. I can't go anywhere."

"Jasmine wants to know where the others are."

"The others?" Fred asked, since she was under the impression they had all fallen under Jasmine's spell.

"Dad and the girl that was with him."

"Buffy?"

"Yeah. They got away."

Fred felt a flicker of hope. She wasn't all alone after all. Buffy and Angel were out there somewhere. They had gotten away and they would come back for her. For the others. They would try to solve this. There was still hope.

"Why would I know where they are?"

Connor shrugged.

"Jasmine thought you might know."

"Well, I don't." Fred told Connor. "I don't know. So now what? Now you're supposed to kill me? Is that what she said?"

Connor didn't reply.

"That should tell you that what she's doing is wrong, Connor. If she wants you to kill people, then how can what she's doing be a good thing?"

Connor stared at the floor, still not saying anything.

"Think about it. What makes a world with her in it better? She kills too. She eats people! I'm not saying our world was so perfect, but at least we got a say in all of it. We made our own decisions. We didn't always make the right ones, but at least we got the chance to decide for ourself. Don't you think that's better, Connor?"

Still no reply.

"She can't make it all better. She won't make it all better. In the end, she'll make it worse. Please realize that."

She paused as she studied Connor's face. She knew he was confused. She knew he had always been confused and when Jasmine came it had only became worse. She felt bad for him, she really did. But right now he had to listen to her.

"Come on, Connor. Talk to me." She pleaded.

Connor looked up at her. Fred thought she saw tears in his eyes, but she couldn't be sure.

"I'm going downstairs." He announced and he walked up to the door.

"No, Connor, please!Don't..." Fred started.

"Shut up!" Connor suddenly yelled as he turned around to face her. "Be quiet, okay?!" Don't let me make you. I don't want to hurt you, but it doesn't mean I won't."

Fred nodded slowly. The look in his eyes scared her now and she knew sheshouldn't push him over the edge. He turned back to the door and unlocked it with a key. Then he opened it. The lights from the hallway lit up the room for a few seconds, until Connor left the room and closed the door behind him. Fred sighed. She waited for the sound of Connor locking the door and was surprised when it didn't come. She listened carefully and suddenly heard voices. One of them was Connor's, the other was a woman's voice, but Fred wasn't sure she recognized it. She couldn't hear what they were saying, but Fred could tell it was a pretty heated discussion. Then the voices stopped and it became quiet. Fred waited. Were they gone? The door still hadn't been locked. Would she be able to escape? She realized she wouldn't be able to escape when the door opened again. A female figure appeared in the doorway. Fred stared at her. _Great_, she thought. _Just when I thought things couldn't get worse._

"Fred" the woman said out loud as she entered the room.

Fred closed her eyes. This wasn't going to make things better. This wasn't going to make things better at all...

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Buffy came out of the bathroom and walked up to the mirror. Her hair was still wet, but she put it up in a bun anyway, since she always hated the loose strands in her face. She sighed. She looked exhausted. She felt exhausted. She knew she couldn't stop now though. Her friends and Angel's friends were counting on her. Other people were counting on her. She couldn't let them down. She had to keep going. She turned around and took the globe from the floor. She would take it with her so when Angel would come back with Jasmine's real name, he would be in the hotel where Jasmine was. She wanted to walk to the door, when she saw the small box on the floor. She immediately recognized it. It was the box with Cordelia's blood in it. Angel must have lost it. She picked it up from the floor. She looked at it before putting it in her pocket. It might come in handy. She left the room and made her way to the staircase. Suddenly two men came from the stairs and walked up to her. Buffy immediately knew something was wrong when she saw the looks on their faces.

"Hello Buffy" One of them spoke, but his voice wasn't his own voice. It was Jasmine's.

Buffy's eyes grew big. _Okay, that's new._

"You really thought you could get away?" The other one spoke with Jasmine's voice.

They walked up to her and tried to grab her. Although Buffy was a little shocked by what was going on, she quickly recovered and kicked one of the guys in his stomach. He collapsed to the floor, but laughed. Jasmine's laugh. Buffy stopped her fighting and stared at the guy. This was freaky. This gave the other guy the opportunity to grab her. She fought her way free and started to run away from the men. She walked down the stairs and heard one of the guys call after her:

"Go ahead. Run. Run all you want. But you can't hide, Buffy. You know you can't."

"Watch me" Buffy whispered.

She made her way down the stairs, through the empty lobby and she left the motel. Everybody on the street looked up and Buffy knew she was in trouble when they walked up to her.

"I would start running by now if I were you." Jasmine's voice came out of a little girl's mouth.

Buffy didn't know what was happening, but she gladly took Jasmine's advice. She ran as fast as she could. Away from the motel, to the hotel. The people followed her, but Buffy knew she was fast. Faster than most of the people. However, the people were everywhere and she wasn't sure she would make it all the way to the hotel without getting caught. She knew she didn't have a choice though. Running was her only chance.

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Connor approached Jasmine who was standing on the balcony, waving at smiling at the people downstairs in the lobby.

"What is it Connor?" Jasmine asked, although she couldn't even know it was Connor who needed her attention, since there were other people standing around her too. Like Wesley, Gunn, Faith and Xander.

"I talked to Fred" Connor said.

"Don't worry about it" Jasmine said, not turning around. "I found Buffy. She'll be here shortly. Thanks for the effort though. Did you take care of Fred? And the body?"

"You found Buffy? What about Angel?" Connor asked, dodging Jasmine's question.

"Angel. Good old Angel. I haven't tracked him down yet. But trust me, he won't get far. We'll find him." Jasmine assured her father.

"That doesn't make sense." Faith suddenly spoke up.

"What do you mean Faith?" Jasmine asked. She stopped waving and smiling for only a second, curious about Faith's answer.

"Angel never would have left Buffy alone. And vice versa. If you found Buffy then Angel should be there too."

Jasmine thought about that for a second.

"He wasn't." She eventually said. "But if what you're saying is true, then we should be able to find Angel soon. Thank you, Faith."

Faith smiled. Jasmine went back to the waving and smiling. Connor frowned. He had a bad feeling about all of this. He knew what his father was capable of and he was afraid the others were underestimating him. He thought about Fred's words for a second. Was there a chance she could be right? _No_, he told himself. _She isn't right. I can't go back to the way the world was before. It was worse. This world is better. It has to be._

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Buffy stopped running when she realized the people were no longer chasing her. Some of them had gone back to doing nothing. Others started walking in the opposite direction. She frowned. It was like they had suddenly changed their mind. Like they had realized they were chasing the wrong person or something. She didn't allow herself to think about it for too long though. If the people had enough of chasing her, then she wasn't going to argue with them. She went back to running and made her way to the hotel.

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A/N: This is once again not the longest chapter, but...well...I thought it would be best to end the chapter here. Please let me know what you think and I'll try to update asap.

Steffanie (a.k.a Nice-one)


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